
%d. 



By WALTER WINANS 



The Art of Revolver Shooting. 

Royal 8vo. New Edition, Revised 

and Enlarged. Fully Illustrated 

net, $5.00 

The Sporting Rifle. 

Royal 8vo. Fully Illustrated 

net, $5.00 

Automatic Pistol Shooting. 

i6mo. Illustrated net, $1.00 

Practical Rifle Shooting. 

i6mo. Illustrated net, 50 cents 
Shooting for Ladies. 

121110. 50 cents 

Animal Sculpture. 

Crown 8vo. Illustrated net, $1.75 



G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

NEW YORK LONDON 




Photo by London Stereoscopic Co. 



THE AUTHOR 



The Modern Pistol 

And How to Shoot It 



By 

Walter Winans 



Commander of the Royal Spanish Order of Isabel la Catolica; Commander 
of the Royal Roumanian Order of the Crown; Officer of the Royal 
Roumanian Order of the Star; Chevalier of the Russian Order of St. 
Stanislaus; The Royal Swedish Medal of the Olympic Games; World's 
Championship Gold Medallist, Olympic Games, London, 1908, for Double 
Rifle Shooting; Vice-President of the National Rifle Association of Great 
" Britain ; Life Member, National Rifle Association of the United States of 
America; Life Member of the United States Revolver Association; Member 
of the Association of American International Riflemen; Revolver Champion 
for five years of the National Rifle Association of Great Britain; Ten 
years Revolver Champion of the North London Rifle Club; Seven years 
Revolver Champion of the South London Rifle Club; Member of Le 

• Pistolet Club, Paris, etc., etc. 



With Forty-six Illustrations 



G. P. Putnam's Sons 

New York and London 
Cbe Iknicfterbocfcer fl>ress 
1919 



Co^ 






oY\ 



1; 



Copyright, 1919 



WALTER WINANS 



/? 



cfeet 



^ 






Ube IftnicRerbocfcer press, mew Jljorfc 

©CLA5L5717 C y- 



MAV tl I-iIm 



PREFACE 

My first book on pistol shooting {The Art of 
Revolver Shooting) was published in 1900. Up to 
that date there existed no book which contained 
instruction on pistol shooting, though several books 
had appeared describing the different makes of 
pistols. 

Since that date several books have appeared — 
some very good ones, by various revolver experts. 
Unfortunately (as always happens when some- 
thing original appears), others who were not 
revolver shots took to writing books on the same 
subject, largely made up of unacknowledged 
extracts from my books. Not understanding 
their subject, they distorted my teaching, and so 
any one trying to learn pistol shooting from them 
gets hopelessly confused. 

1 therefore give this warning; do not follow the 
advice of any but an acknowledged expert in 
pistol shooting, as books by hack writers, made 
up of extracts from other writers, and illustrations 
from gunmakers' catalogues, are not to be taken 
seriously. 

Moreover, the revolver is now obsolete, and 
there is no use learning to shoot it. 



IV 



Preface 



My object in writing this book is to give in- 
struction in the modern substitute for the revolver. 
That is to say, the automatic pistol, and incident- 
ally, to instruct in the single shot or duelling 
pistol. 

For those who wish to study revolver shooting, 
I would refer them to my book The Art of Revolver 
Shooting. 

The present work might be called volume ii. of 
The Art of Revolver Shooting, as it instructs in the 
form of pistol shooting which has now taken the 
place of revolver shooting. 

Though the revolver is now obsolete, my Art of 
Revolver Shooting is of interest, as giving details 
of out-of-date firearms, and the best-on-record 
scores made with them. 

These records will be of the greatest impor- 
tance for future generations. 

There are now no records extant of scores made 
with the long bow, the cross-bow, and the various 
stone-hurling slings and balistae. All concerning 
them is legendary. 

If we depended only on newspaper articles for 
what was possible in revolver shooting, we should 
get legends similar to those of obsolete arms. 

I was credited with making a World's Record 
with a revolver at five hundred yards by a reporter 
when it should have been fifty yards. He merely 
added a nought to the figures. 

As all records are important for historical pur- 
poses, and for comparison with future scores, I 



Preface v 

give as an appendix in this book those revolver 
records which cannot now be beaten, the revol- 
vers and cartridges being now no longer made. 

It is curious how, even up to the outbreak of the 
Great War, people did not understand that shoot- 
ing was more important than playing games, or 
that shooting had to be learned. 

I recently read a "trench anecdote" which re- 
lates that a man who had never fired a shot before 
he was conscripted was shot in the back, and whilst 
dying, " seized his rifle and dropped an enemy who 
was running past 200 yards off." 

To do this would require a first-class trained 
rifle shot who specialized in shooting at moving 
objects, and even he, with his back broken, could 
not swing, which is the essence of successful shoot- 
ing at moving objects. 

Another writer, a lieutenant, wrote during the 
war to one of the daily papers, advising the pur- 
chase of a revolver to be deferred till actually 
starting for the Front ! 

I have had several men on leave bring me 
revolvers and automatic pistols, asking me to test 
them, as they could not hit anything with them 
at the Front. 

With one of these pistols I made the highest 
possible score at thirty yards ; with another I made 
ten out of twelve bulls at twenty yards. None of 
the pistols was wrong. It was the men's lack of 
skill. 

Just before the war, several rifle ranges in Eng- 



vi Preface 

land were closed, because they interfered with 
golf players. 

It is to be hoped that after this war, men will 
spend their spare time in learning rifle and pistol 
shooting instead of wasting it in games, and will 
not close rifle ranges because they interfere with 
their golf links. 

The fallacy that games are the best training 
for military service is exposed by a very interesting 
article in .the Field newspaper. 

I maintain that no man who has not the instinct 
to shoot ingrained in him, will shoot when under 
intense excitement and danger. If he is a player 
of games he will not shoot, but throw things at 
his adversary, or use his rifle as a pike or club. 

Mr. John Lloyd Balderston, writing to the Field 
newspaper of September 29, 191 7, says: 

"An officer showed me his charges going through a 
mimic attack — firing rifle volleys instead of hurling 
bombs or going in with the bayonet; in these attacks 
reliance was placed too much on the bayonet and 
bomb — now we have realized that when the enemy 
runs away and you run after him he is likely to get 
away. Accordingly we teach the men not to rush 
wildly along with the sole idea of bayoneting, but to 
stop and pump some bullets after him." 



Walter Winans. 



January I, 191 9, 

17 Avenue de Teroneren, 

Bruxelles, Belgique. 



CONTENTS 



Preface 



I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 



-Introduction . 

-Sport Versus Sports 

-Why Pistol Shooting is Un 
popular 

-The Wrong Way to Learn 

-Preliminary Information 

-How to Prevent Accidents 

-How to Prevent Accidents 

{Continued) . 

-Trigger-Pull . 

Ammunition 

First Lessons 
-Learning to Shoot 
-Sights 
-Targets . 
-Practical Targets 
-How to Hold the Pistol 
-Running Shots 
-Running Shots {Continued) 



PAGE 

iii 

i 
6 

13 
16 
20 
26 

33 
38 
44 
46 

53 
62 

7i 

77 
80 
86 
92 



viii Contents 

CHAPTER 

XVIII. — Shooting an Automatic Pistol 

XIX. — Timing Apparatus . 

XX. — Snap Shooting 

XXI. — Long Range Shooting 

XXII. — The Automatic Pistol . 

XXIII. — The Mechanism of the Auto 
matic Pistol 

XXIV. — Peculiarities and Faults of 
Automatic Pistols 

XXV. — Final Practice 

XXVI. — Exhibition Shooting 

XXVII. — Control of Temper 

XXVIII. — The Effect of Alcohol and 
Nicotine on Shooting 

XXIX. — Cleaning and Care of the 
Pistol . . ' . 

XXX. — Practical Pistol Shooting 

XXXI. — Danger of Leaving Pistols 
about .... 

XXXII. — Using One's Brains in Shooting 
XXXIII.— The Perfect Target 
XXXIV.— Is Duelling Wrong? 

XXXV. — Remarks on Duelling . 

XXXVI. — Remarks on Duelling {Con 
tinued) 

XXXVII. — Details as to Duelling . 



Contents 



CHAPTER PAGE 

XXXVIII. — Ought Duelling to be Abol- 
ished? 189 



XXXIX. — How to Prepare a Novice in 
Half an Hour for a Duel 

XL. — Pistols for Self-Defence 

XLI. — Dress .... 

XLII. — Self-Defence . 



XLIII. — Protecting the Eyes and Ears 215 
XLIV. — Eyesight . . 

XLV. — The Weather and Shooting 
XLVI. — Military Automatic Pistols 
XLVIL— Recoil .... 
XLVIII. — Judging Distance . 
XLIX. — Game Shooting 

L. — Shooting from Horseback 
LI. — Gallery Automatic Pistols 
LII. — Shooting Gallery . 



LIII. — The Gastinne-Renette 
lery 

LIV. — Open Air Ranges . 

LV. — Shooting in Literature 

LVL— Grip 

LVII. — Trick Shooting 

LVIII. — The Devilliers Bullet 

LIX. — Killing Injured Animals 



Gal 



194 
200 
207 
212 



222 
226 
231 
239 
243 
249 
253 
260 
266 

270 
276 
280 
285 
291 
300 
305 



Contents 



CHAPTER 


PAGE 


LX. — Competitions . 


■ 313 


LXI. — Police Pistols 


• 317 


LXII. — Inventors 


• 320 


LXIII. — Simplification 


• 326 


Appendix A 


• 333 



Appendix B. The Law Relating to Revol- 
vers and Revolver Shooting in Great 
Britain and Ireland . . 351 

Appendix C. The Law of Carrying Weapons 

in the United States .... 360 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

The Author . . . Frontispiece 

Breech-Loading Pistols .... 47 

Author's Winning Score for Gastinne-Ren- 
ette Competition, April 7, 1910 . . 49 

Colt Automatic Pistol, Pocket Model, 
Calibre .32 . . . . . 52 

Colt Automatic Pistol .22 Target Model , 54 

Colt Automatic Pistol, Military Model, 
Calibre .38 . . . . • 70 

Colt Automatic Pistol, Military Model, 
Calibre .45 . . . . . • 70 

How to Hold the Duelling Pistol (i) . 82 

How to Hold the Duelling Pistol with 
Spur (2) 83 

Colt New Safety Disconnector Automatic 
Pistol, .25 ..... 129 

The Gastinne-Renette 16 Metres Tar- 
get 168 

Ornamental Duelling Pistols by Gastinne- 
Renette . 181 

Pistols by Gastinne-Renette . . 183 

Colt Derringer ...,,, 203 



Xll 



Illustrations 



Colt Automatic Pistol .25 . 

United States Army Regulation .45 Colt 
Automatic Pistol .... 

United States Army Regulation .45 Colt 
Automatic Pistol. Sectional View 



Gastinne-Renette Gallery 
Gastinne-Renette Gallery- 



Firing Points 



Shield on Duelling Pistol with Guard for 
Devilliers Bullet .... 

The Greener Killer .... 

Winans' Revolver Front Sights 

Author's World's Record Score 

Author's World's Record Score 

Author's World's Record Score 

Author's World's Record Score 

Author's World's Record Score 

Author's World's Record Score 

Author's World's Record Score. Twenty 
Yards Disappearing Target 

Author's World's Record Score. Twenty 
Yards Disappearing Target . 

Author's World's Record Score. Twenty 
Yards Disappearing Target 

Author's World's Record Score. Six Shots 
in 12 Seconds ..... 

Author's World's Record Score. For Mili 
tary Revolver and Sights 



Illustrations 



Author's World's Record Score. Twenty 
Yards Rapid-Firing Target . . 345 

Author's World's Record Score. For 3- 
Inch Bull's-Eye Traversing Target, 20 
Yards . . . - . . . . 346 

Author's World's Record Score. For 2- 
Inch Bull's-Eye Traversing Target, 20 
Yards . . . . . . 347 

Author's World's Record Score Advanc- 
ing Target ...... 348 

Author's World's Record Score Fifty 
. Yards Target 349 

Twelve Highest Possible Scores Made by 
the Author in Revolver Competitions at 
20 Yards in 1895 ..... 350 



The Modern Pistol and 
How to Shoot it 



CHAPTER I 



INTRODUCTION 



There is now no use learning revolver shooting. 
That form of pistol is obsolete except in the few 
instances where it survives for target shooting, 
or is carried for self-defence; just as flintlock 
muskets even now survive in out-of-the-way parts 
of the world. 

If a man tries to defend himself with a revolver 
against another armed with an automatic pistol 
he is at a great disadvantage. 

The automatic is more accurate than a revolver, 
as the "blow-back" does not vary as much as 
does the escape of gas past the cylinder in a 
revolver. 

The bullet in the revolver has to jump into the 
cylinder, whereas in the automatic it is already 
fitted up against the rifling, before being fired. 



2 The Modern Pistol 

The single-shot pistol is the most accurate of 
any, there being no escape of gas. 

The automatic has not only a much longer 
range than the revolver (although the popular 
idea that it can be shot accurately at a thousand 
yards or more is nonsense) but it cocks itself 
instead of having to be cocked by the thumb, or 
trigger ringer. 

Cocking by trigger-pull is such a strain on, not 
only the trigger finger, but the whole hand, that, 
after a few shots, good shooting cannot be made. 

I won all my rapid-firing revolver competitions 
using the single action and cocking with the thumb, 
as this rested my trigger finger. 

With the automatic, cocking is unnecessary and, 
with its lighter recoil, good scores in rapid-firing 
are very much easier to make. 

The penetration of the nickel-coated automatic 
bullet propelled by its big charge of nitro powder 
is very great. 

A man brought me a "pistol-proof" cuirass to 
test ; I put a bullet at twelve yards clean through it 
and then through two "bullet proof" ones, placed 
one behind the other. (I used a regulation U. S. 
45 Automatic pistol.) 

This was before the war. The inventor was 
disappointed. He had experimented only with 
revolvers shooting soft leaden bullets and these 
his cuirass had stopped. 

Unfortunately, in its present comparatively 
imperfect development,, the automatic is the most 



Introduction ' 3 

dangerous firearm of all pistols for a novice to 
handle. 

The long barrel of a rifle can be struck aside if 
a beginner swings it round and points it at the 
instructor or a nearby spectator, but the short 
barrel of a pistol is easily pointed at and with 
difficulty brushed aside by the unfortunate person 
standing near a " brandishing" and "flourishing" 
man who is learning to shoot. 

In spite of all warnings even those who ought to 
know better do this swinging about. In fact, it is 
the recognized way of handling a pistol; according 
to reporters, they always say So and So "was 
brandishing a pistol" if he happens to be armed. 

You can test the truth of the above remark by 
asking any one to show how he would shoot a 
pistol. 

He will raise his hand above his head and 
then jerk it down. It is very difficult to get any 
one to understand the danger and the futility of 
doing this. 

Euclid tells us the shortest way from one point 
to another is a straight line. Why then, in order to 
get the muzzle of your pistol on an object, move it 
towards the stars first? 

Never let the muzzle of any firearm, either loaded 
or unloaded, point in the direction where it would do 
harm unintentionally if discharged. 

I, once only, in all my experience, found a 
beginner who did not do this, and the beginner was 
a lady ! 



4 The Modern Pistol 

After a few shots with a duelling pistol the wind 
blew the target down, the pistol was loaded and at 
full-cock in her hands. I had seen enough of 
how she handled a pistol, to know she had grasped 
the necessity of never pointing where there is 
danger. 

The target blew down as she was beginning to 
aim at it ; she raised the muzzle vertically and put 
the pistol at half-cock, I at the same moment going 
forward to put the target back in place. 

With any other beginner I would have taken 
the pistol with me when I went up to the target. 

Smoking is one of the greatest enemies to good 
shooting, even more so than alcohol. 

A drinking man may, for a time, shoot well, till 
his nerves are destroyed, but smoking, long before 
it kills, makes a man unable to shoot well. He has 
too much twitch in his muscles. 

It is curious how heavy smokers deceive them- 
selves, and think it does them no harm. 

At a dinner, a man told me that smoking could 
not possibly interfere with a man's shooting. 

He said : " I can lift a tumbler full of water with- 
out spilling a drop." 

There were plenty of tumblers and a decanter 
before him, but he took very good care not to 
demonstrate his contention. 

I looked for his hands ; he had one carefully out 
of sight, behind him; the other, with the eternal 
cigarette between the fingers, he was pressing 
tightly to his waistcoat, but not tightly enough to 



Introduction 5 

prevent my seeing that his hand was trembling 
as if with the palsy. 

Then, he added, to clinch his argument : 

It is all nonsense to pretend that smokers cannot 
stop smoking if they want to; I stopped for a whole 
week and the only thing was that I did not sleep and 
had no appetite; it was not worth it, so I began 
smoking again. 

This is an extreme case, but all smoking, from 
the first whiff, is cumulative poison, deteriorating 
the nerves. 

If a man gives up smoking and takes to pistol 
shooting in the open air, he will find his nerves 
enormously strengthened and, as long as he guards 
his ears from the concussion (which I will deal with 
later), his health much improved. 

For elderly men also there is not the strain on the 
heart as in golf or tennis. 



CHAPTER II 



SPORT VERSUS SPORTS 



When I wrote my book on revolver shooting, in 
1900, I caused indignation amongst many, by 
saying that the time wasted over games would be 
better employed in learning to shoot. 

I was told that, although pistol shooting might 
be amusing, it was " such a waste of time and of no 
practical use," and this by men who waste most 
of their time over golf ! 

Later, the Kipling poem on Flanneled Fools and 
Muddied Oafs came out, and there was an outcry 
as if one of the dogmas of the church had been 
assailed. 

If games are so good for the health, why does one 
see so many young men with round backs and 
contracted chests, and heads poking forward, in 
England? 

Until the war is forgotten, shooting men will be 
considered as making better use of their time than 
players of games, and the latter will not consider 
themselves .superior to all others, and, figuratively 
speaking, carve footballs on the tombs of their 
heroes (as the feet were crossed on the tombs of 
6 



Sport versus Sports 7 

crusaders) to indicate the greatest deed of the 
deceased. 

A great deal of this worship of ' ' Sports ' ' is the 
confusion, owing to the similarity of the sound 
and spelling, between "sport" and "sports." 

"Sport" is the backbone of all manhood. It is 
the hunting instinct inherent in all healthy, normal 
males ; it means the cultivation of skill in shooting 
and horsemanship, and men proficient in it are 
ready to rise in the defence of their country. 

This is what ' ' sport " means. Now, however, the 
term "sportsman" is employed to mean a man 
who has never fired a shot or swung his leg over a 
horse, but one who is merely a kicker or hitter of 
balls, or worse, one who sits sucking at a cigarette 
watching others playing games. The things he 
indulges in are called "sports," and it is "sports" 
which, before the war, were considered to over- 
shadow all else, and were taught at schools and 
colleges. 

A feeble old man, past active participation in 
"sport" can be, of course, excused if he keeps 
himself in health by playing golf, but a healthy 
young man should shoot or ride. 

The general public, not knowing the training 
necessary before a man can either shoot or ride, 
imagines that there is no necessity to learn either. 

They think that the moment a. man puts on a 
military uniform he can ride in a cavalry charge, 
break wild horses, or hit a man a thousand yards 
off with either pistol or rifle. 



8 The Modern Pistol 

Besides the absence of skill in shooting, there is 
not in such men the instinct to shoot. 

A shooting man has in him the instinct of 
shooting, so innate that he aims and presses the 
trigger as instinctively as he lifts his foot when 
stepping off the road on to the curb. 

He does not have to think at all. 

If he is crossing a field in which there is a savage 
bull, when carrying a gun, rifle, or pistol, his only 
anxiety is not to be compelled to shoot. It might 
get him into trouble with the farmer. Any danger 
to himself from the bull he knows does not exist. 

A man who knows nothing about shooting, even 
if given a loaded pistol, gun, or rifle, before crossing 
the field, would be more afraid of the firearm going 
off than of the bull, and, if attacked, would club 
the gun or rifle to hit the bull with, or would throw 
the pistol at it. 

Painters of battle pictures depict soldiers using 
their rifles as clubs or pikes, not as shooting with 
them. 

As an artist myself, I know one excuse for this. 

You need a model who is a shooting man, to 
pose correctly for a soldier shooting. Such a model 
is expensive, but you can get any one to pose as a 
man clubbing with the butt end of his rifle. 

When I say that every able-bodied man should 
know how to shoot, and that it is a disgrace if a 
man cannot both shoot and ride, I am answered: 
"Shooting is a gift, I could not learn to shoot if I 
tried all my life." This is nonsense. A man may 



Sport versus Sports 9 

be more apt for it, which generally means that he 
has a liking for it ; and this enables him to learn to 
shoot sooner and to become a better shot. But 
any normal man, and with even moderately good 
sight, can learn to shoot well enough to make of 
himself a very dangerous opponent. 

It is the way shooting competitions are con- 
ducted (as I will explain later), which makes 
shooting so uninteresting to the average man. 

It is to him like having to take a black draught 
of medicine. 

I confess the usual shooting gallery has the same 
effect on me; I always pass by on the other side 
when I see the notice "Shooting Gallery." 

The constant paragraphs in the papers announc- 
ing a "did not know it was loaded" accident bear 
testimony to how ignorant the public are of even 
the elementary knowledge (I will not say com- 
mon sense), not to point a firearm at another in 
play. 

The public think that a bullet goes only where 
the shooter wants it to go, "You pull the trigger 
and the bullet does the rest" sort of idea. 

They believe the bullet goes direct of itself to 
that object and stops there, when the trigger is 
pulled. They have no idea that the bullet may 
miss that object and hit someone beyond. 

People will stand in the direct line of fire to 
watch a wounded buck in a park being shot, and 
are indignant if asked to move to one side. 

They think it is absolutely safe to fire into the 



io The Modern Pistol 

air, even in a crowded city. They do not think 
that the falling bullet may do any injury. 

As there is only slight danger from falling shot, 
this fosters the idea. They do not know the 
difference between a shotgun or rifle. Both are 
"sporting rifles" to them and a military rifle is a 
"gun." 

A man does not put a razor to the throat of 
another in play, but he thinks it "humour" to 
take up a firearm, point it at another and pull the 
trigger. 

The extraordinary thing is that if the "did not 
know it was loaded" man were taken to a range 
and asked to hit a target, he would miss it every 
shot, but he never misses his victim when he is 
playing at the game of " I did not know it was 
loaded. " He kills his victim every time. 

The reason is that the fool takes very good care 
to go up to within a few inches of his victim be- 
fore killing him with his "I did not know it was 
loaded" joke. 

Some people have no sense of humour. 

They handle horses in the same way, but, 
fortunately, animals make allowance for ignorance 
in human beings but a firearm makes no such 
allowance. Therefore there are fewer accidents 
to human beings from horses than from firearms, 
in proportion to the silly things the humans 
do. 

A dog will allow a small child to poke its fingers 
in its eyes. If a grown person attempted it he 



Sport versus Sports n 

would get bitten, but a pistol makes no such dis- 
tinction. 

I was being shown round a remount depot 
where the horses were picketed out with a hind 
leg tethered to a peg, when a sour-looking, under- 
bred artillery horse, began kicking at his neighbour. 

The horse kicked himself free and trotted off to 
the corner of the field, where he stood, sulkily, with 
his ears laid back, a piece of rope wedged between 
his near hind shoe and the foot. 
- A man was ordered to bring the horse back. 
He was wearing a pince-nez of very near sighted 
type. 

Now what he ought to have done was to first 
catch the horse, taking care not to get kicked whilst 
doing so, then to hold up a fore leg (so that the 
horse could not kick), whilst someone else re- 
moved the bit of rope from the hind shoe, standing 
to one side. 

Instead, he walked up straight behind the horse. 
When he got within a few yards of him, to my 
intense horror, he went down on his hands and 
knees and began crawling towards the horse's 
hind legs. 

The horse had been laying back his ears and 
showing the whites of his eyes and measuring the 
distance for a kick at the man. 

This manoeuvre on the man's part, however, so 
surprised the horse that he stood quite still, 
looking at the man enquiringly. 

The man crawled up close to the horse's heels, 



12 The Modern Pistol 

took out his pocket knife and, putting his nose 
within a few inches of the horse's near hind foot, 
quietly sawed away at the piece of rope with his 
blunt pocket knife and jerked the ends out from 
between the shoe and hoof. The horse stood like 
an angel all the time. 

The man to this day has not the least idea he 
ran any risk or performed an act worthy of the 
V. C. 

The horse evidently thought such a fool was not 
worth kicking. There is no fun kicking a man who 
is not frightened. 



CHAPTER III 

WHY PISTOL SHOOTING IS UNPOPULAR 

Games, or "sports" as they are called, would 
not be popular if they were conducted on the same 
lines that pistol shooting usually is. 

Pistol shooting is made as dull and uninteresting 
as possible, and then surprise is expressed that 
hardly any one takes a pistol in his hand, except 
when compelled to do so, and that shooting gal- 
leries do not pay. 

Small white squares of cardboard, a minute 
black spot in the middle of each, are put up at 
various distances. You are told to aim at this 
spot. If you hit it it counts so much, if you miss 
it, the further from it you perforate the paper, the 
less points you score. 

When you have fired a certain number of shots, 
the total is added up and you go on again. 

Occasionally, you have the mild excitement of 
being allowed to do this in competition, and a 
"spoon" is given you if you make top score, paid 
for out of your own money less a percentage which 
the gallery keeps. 

Your skill does not avail you long, as the next 
13 



14 The Modern Pistol 

time you shoot, by however many points you have 
won, by that number of points you are handi- 
capped, so it is possible that if you get very pro- 
ficient, you can have the pleasure, when making 
all bull's-eyes, of being beaten by a man who has 
not made a single bull's-eye, and beats you by 
handicap, and the list of spoon winners appears 
in the papers with his name on top and yours at 
the bottom, and people say, "How badly X 
shoots." 

This is not very encouraging to X or conducive 
to a desire to gain proficiency. 

However bad a shot you are, you have an equal 
chance of winning this spoon. 

Even the possibility of gaming a spoon applies to 
only a few shooting clubs. The shooting galleries 
in black cellars, do not give prizes. You are 
supposed to be fully compensated, after being 
deafened by a man with a full charge revolver or 
automatic pistol blazing away into the darkness 
beside you, by paying for your targets, ammuni- 
tion, and hire of a greasy revolver with a trigger- 
pull hard enough to break your finger and a report 
like a cannon, whilst you strain your eyes to see a 
black front sight in the darkness. 

There is no sport, or comfort, in all this. Under 
such circumstances nobody can be blamed if he 
gives up pistol shooting in disgust. 

I shall describe later, how a gallery should be 
built (see Plates 15 and 16), or an open range 
planned and conducted, but I here merely indicate 



Why Pistol Shooting is Unpopular 15 

why pistol shooting in England is deservedly un- 
popular as at present conducted. 

There should be no handicapping. Being able 
to shoot well should be an incentive, not a handicap. 

Next, there should be the excitement and amuse- 
ment of a game. 

Who would go to look at a game conducted 
under the following conditions? 

Sit in a room with all the lights out, with a faint 
glimmer at the far end. 
• Hear incessant, deafening noises. 

Nothing else but noise for an hour or two, 
except occasionally a pause whilst the black spot 
in the_distance disappears and then reappears. 

Finally a man reading from a piece of paper 
announces : 

X 40 points, First. 

Y 39 points, Second. 

Z 38 points, Third. 

Then you go home. 

' Some drudgery in learning has to be gone through 
with, but it should be in a good light out-of-doors, 
and this drudgery is only while learning. It should 
not be continued all through a man's shooting 
career, and be considered "pistol shooting." 

As I will show, shooting can be made intensely 
interesting to both spectators and participants. 

The present style of shooting competitions leads 
many sportsmen to say: "I love shooting, but I 
hate target shooting." 



CHAPTER IV 

THE WRONG WAY TO LEARN 

Pistol practice varies in different countries. 

As duelling is still general on the Continent, 
practice with the pistol is conducted differently 
to that customary in the United States or England. 

On the Continent most men of the upper classes 
have at least a rudimentary acquaintance with 
the foil and duelling pistol, but in the English- 
speaking nations a man has rarely ever handled or 
even seen a duelling pistol, or the few who have 
done pistol shooting have never shot except at a 
stationary bull's-eye target. 

At the English National Rifle Association at 
Bisley, the attempt was made to induce men to 
practise at "moving, rapid-firing, and disappearing 
targets, as well as advancing and retiring ones, but 
these had reluctantly one by one to be given up, 
owing to there being so few men who cared to 
shoot in such competitions. 

In the days when I used to compete regularly 
at Bisley, I do not think there were more than 
half a dozen of us who competed at the sliding 
target, and even fewer at the rapid-firing one. 

16 



The Wrong Way to Learn 17 

We, in those days, used revolvers and black 
powder, which made such shooting very difficult 
owing -to the smoke obscuring the target. 

I give at the end of this book the best targets, 
full size, made in these competitions which will 
now remain permanently the best on record, as 
the revolver and ammunition are no longer made. 
They will rank with the "High Wheel" trotting 
records as "Hors Concours." 

Any one who wishes to compete in revolver- 
shooting competitions in England must modify 
my teaching in the preceding chapters, and refer 
to my Art of Revolver Shooting for details of 
competition. 

The duelling pistol is not used in England, but 
there are many revolvers still in use there; Eng- 
land is the last country to use the revolver in the 
army, and is the last refuge of the revolver, just as 
Yellowstone Park is the last refuge of the buffalo. 

For competition in England, practising will have 
to be done with a revolver, not an automatic 
pistol, and a deliberate aim taken at a black bull's- 
eye on a white target. 

In the United States, the automatic pistol is the 
sole weapon now. Several Challenge Trophies, 
which I modelled and presented to various asso- 
ciations, have had to have their conditions altered 
to "automatic pistols" from "revolvers," and as 
the automatic inevitably tends to rapid shoot- 
ing, the days of stationary target shooting are 
numbered. 



1 8 The Modern Pistol 

Many people defend shooting at a stationary 
target, on the plea that one must learn one's 
alphabet before learning to read. 

This is correct as far as it goes, but they care- 
fully omit to add that after a boy has learned his 
alphabet, he goes on to reading, and writing. He 
does not merely repeat his alphabet all his life. 

Just the same argument is used by those who 
say that blundering through Greek and Latin, 
with the help of a dictionary, teaches modern 
languages; that these latter are "so easy after a 
grounding in Latin and Greek." 

If it is so easy why do they not learn modern 
languages. They cannot speak a word of any 
language but their own, and even the few sen- 
tences of Latin and Greek they can parrot-like 
repeat, no foreigner can understand, as they 
pronounce them with the English vowel sounds. 
For the same reason they mispronounce all foreign 
names. 

A Russian who cannot speak French and Ger- 
man as well as his own language is considered 
entirely uneducated. 

A man may be a crack shot at a stationary 
target and yet be absolutely useless with his pistol 
in case of having to use it in a hurry at anything 
in motion. 

If you want to learn something, learn it, do not 
learn another thing, so as to be prepared to learn 
something else later on, if you care to. 

If you want to eat a peach do not first drink 



The Wrong Way to Learn 19 

ten plates of soup, and eat a leg of mutton, or you 
may not have the time or desire to eat the peach. 

If you want to learn practical pistol shooting, 
learn it, do not waste time learning unpractical 
shooting. 

You not only waste your time, but you spoil your 
"timing, " which is the great thing in pistol shoot- 
ing, and also your sense of direction. You get 
into the habit of putting up your pistol and then 
searching for the bull's-eye, instead of having it 
all come by instinct, like putting your spoon into 
your mouth. 

I can tell a man who is not a practical shot, by 
the way he first finds his sights, and then hunts 
round for the target with them. If it were a live 
target, it would have made itself scarce while he 
was searching for his sights. 



CHAPTER V 

PRELIMINARY INFORMATION 

In revolver shooting there was the danger of 
making a bad shot through a badly fitted or dirty 
cylinder not turning quite into place, and causing 
a shaving of lead to be taken off the bullet as it 
passed into the barrel. 

I was once trying a new pattern revolver, and 
made a very bad shot, although I knew I had let- 
off well. I opened the revolver, and a thin shred 
of lead fell out, showing the bullet had been de- 
formed as it entered the barrel. 

A bad shot from such a cause cannot happen 
to an automatic or a single-shot pistol. 

A near-sighted man is at more disadvantage in 
pistol shooting than in rifle shooting. 

With a rifle the hind sight can be fixed to the 
barrel nearer, or further from the eye until it is at 
just the right distance to suit the shooter. 

The pistol must be held at the full stretch of the 
arm, or else one will get a blow on the nose, and 
will not be able to hold steadily. 

A long-sighted man can continue pistol shooting 
without having to wear glasses long after he has to 
use them for reading. 



Preliminary Information 21 

A near-sighted man finds the hind sight too far 
for him to see it clearly, and then makes the fatal 
mistake of shooting with a bent arm. 

This not only prevents accurate shooting, but 
he is very apt to get the hind sight into his eye 
from the recoil of a kicking automatic. 

The arm should be held straight and extended 
to full stretch, so as to point the pistol by sense 
of direction, just as a well-fitting shotgun stock 
enables the shooter to aim without consciously 
paying any attention to the sights. 

Use the pistol exactly as you would use a shot- 
gun. It is this want of knowledge of shotgun 
shooting which makes men shoot a pistol as if it 
were a rifle being used at a stationary target. 

These men only understand lying down with a 
rifle, and poking about with the sights to find the 
target after they have put the rifle to their shoul- 
der. Some have a lot of incantations first; they 
aim at the sky, bring the rifle down slowly, and 
then make a bull's-eye on the wrong target as they 
naturally cannot know which is theirs of a string 
of targets, if they only fish about looking through 
a pin hole for it; they know nothing of the possi- 
bilities of a rifle or pistol, unless they are shotgun 
shooters as well. 

The public consider "I did not know it was 
loaded" as ample and full excuse when one man 
shoots another in a so-called "accident." 

Not to know if the firearm you are handling 
is loaded is an unpardonable crime. It is so simple 



22 The Modern Pistol 

to open the firearm and see for yourself. I never 
take the owner's word for it if he tells me a fire- 
arm is not loaded. Before I handle it, I examine 
it for myself. 

The public think that no one but an expert can 
possibly know if a firearm is loaded ; that the only 
way to know is to pull the trigger, and if any one 
happens to be shot, well, that is unavoidable and 
nobody is to blame. 

It is to try to partly remedy this danger (it is 
impossible to make any firearm or instruction 
in its use "fool-proof") that I ask any one who 
takes up this book to read the two following 
chapters, even if they take no interest in shooting. 
It may save a life. 

Everything we do is a compromise, and nothing 
human can be made perfect in all particulars. 

I give my ideas of what is wanting in auto- 
matics, not from a mechanic's point of view, but 
from that of the one who has to shoot them. 

Few mechanics are shooting experts. They 
make beautiful pistols from a mechanical point 
of view, but which are clumsy and unpractical 
from the shooter's point of view. 

Early inventors of automatics were not practical 
shots. 

The inventor of one of the earliest automatics 
came to me with his invention. It was utterly 
impossible to handle or make any good shooting 
with it. It was like trying to eat soup with a fork. 
He kept telling me that if I "held it like this" and 



Preliminary Information 23 

"did this, " I should be able to shoot with it, but it 
was as if he had told me if I sat with my face to the 
tail of the horse and held on by his hocks, I should 
be able to ride better than the usual way. Besides 
being of a most unwieldy shape, to grasp which 
you had to spread your fingers in all directions, 
this pioneer of the automatic pistol had all sorts 
of levers which must be moved by your different 
fingers in order to shoot it, as if you were playing 
the cornet. 

Inventors, instead of evolving a pistol from their 
imagination, should consult an expert pistol shot, 
as to what improvements on existing pistols are 
required. 

We are told by writers who use the fashionable 
word "imagination," that to do anything, from 
governing a Nation to destroying submarines, 
"All that is needed is a man with 'Imagination.'" 

"Imagination" may do many things in legend 
or story but it will not teach a man pistol shooting, 
or enable him to invent an automatic pistol. I 
put experience and technical knowledge before 
"imagination" and theories. 

In rifles there is the same sort of difficulty. It 
took me years before I found a gunmaker who 
would try to make a rifle on the lines I consider 
desirable for big-game shooting. 

Big game is shot at short range, so flat trajec- 
tory is of no importance. What is important is to 
have a rifle which is light and well balanced and 
yet will knock down an animal with a terrific blow 



24 The Modern Pistol 

at close range. One does not want the sort of 
rifle so largely advertised as an ideal rifle for big- 
game shooting — a rifle which weighs as much as 
an arm-chair, balances like a poker, kicks like a 
horse, and is warranted to shoot into a two-inch 
bull's-eye at four hundred yards, but is impossible 
to align on a rapidly moving animal at a few yards 
off, owing to its clumsiness and weight. 

Inventors of firearms expect their customers to 
adapt themselves to their weapons instead of 
making the weapon to fit their customers, and 
answer to their requirements. 

I stopped a man just in time, taking a Lea- 
Metford to shoot rooks with ! 

I was lecturing on the cruelty and uselessness of 
docking horses, amputating the bones and nerves 
of the horse's tail and searing it with a hot iron, 
and what for? A man in the audience stood up and 
said: "If I did not dock my horse he would be too 
long to fit between the shafts of my cart." 

This is just the inventor's attitude : 

You must shorten your trigger finger by cutting 
off the first joint. I cannot alter all the blue prints 
of my invention just because you find the trigger too 
far back for your finger. Your finger is too long; my 
invention is perfect. 

As a shooting man, not a gunmaker, I may 
suggest improvements impracticable to make 
with present means, but it was not by saying 



Preliminary Information 25 

machines heavier than the air cannot be made to 
rise that the aeroplane was evolved. 

It will be found that I have modified and even 
entirely changed some of my ideas since I pub- 
lished the Art of Revolver Shooting in 1890. 

This is of course inevitable : one lives and learns, 
and I have learned much on the subject since then. 
Mechanical improvements have altered and elimi- 
nated difficulties which I had to teach how to avoid 
twenty-eight years ago. 

On the other hand, new difficulties have arisen 
which have to be combated. 

Those who cribbed from my former writings 
made a great mistake, and instruction which was 
quite right for revolvers is wrong for automatics. 
The position of the thumb, for instance, or the 
filing of the sights (which, almost without excep- 
tion, these compilers of books have taken without 
acknowledgment from my Art of Revolver Shooting) , 
are not applicable to modern pistols. 
' The best way to learn pistol shooting is to have 
an expert stand beside you, but, lacking this, the 
only way is to read a book by an expert. 

It is very easy to write and to pose as an expert 
by the use of scissors, but it is rather hard on those 
who wish to learn, and also on those whose ideas 
are taken and used without acknowledgment. 

I do not think any expert could write a book on 
pistol shooting using quotations, as each man has 
his own system. 



CHAPTER VI 

HOW TO PREVENT ACCIDENTS 

It is no use carrying a pistol in your pocket for 
self-defence, and to have it go off and kill yourself, 
or much worse, shoot the person you are trying to 
save. 

The first, foremost, and last thing is never to 
point the muzzle towards anywhere you do not 
want a bullet to go. 

Never mind if the pistol is empty, treat it as if it 
were loaded. "I did not think it was loaded" or 
"he was cleaning the pistol and it exploded" are 
the stock excuses when an accident occurs. 

Firearms to the non-expert "explode" at odd 
moments, and nobody is to blame; he thinks it is 
the nature of a pistol to "explode" spontaneously. 

I cannot myself understand how a man can 
clean a loaded pistol, as by cleaning I understand 
getting the fouling, nickel, etc., out of the bore of 
the pistol, and the cartridge must first be ex- 
tracted to do this. But I suppose a man not used 
to a pistol would mean by cleaning, polishing the 
outside, raising the hammer, and then putting a 
rag through the trigger guard and pulling it back- 



How to Prevent Accidents 27 

wards and forwards against the trigger with the 
butt of the pistol resting on his knee and the 
barrel against his chest. 

He of course does not first open the pistol to see 
if it is loaded; he leaves it for the inquest to decide 
"that he did not know it was loaded." 

I am not writing for such people ; they are better 
shot and out of the way, else they might hurt 
others. 

The second thing is never to load the pistol 
except when necessary. 

Most people buy an automatic, get the gun- 
maker to load it for them, and put it in a drawer 
or their pocket, and keep it like that for years, or 
worse, leave it -lying about loaded. 

A pistol must be periodically cleaned. If it is 
kept loaded for years, it will probably jamb if 
any one attempts to fire it. 

A pistol kept loaded is a constant source of danger 
to everyone, including the owner. 
, I knew of a case where a revolver was kept 
loaded by a bedside for twenty years and thrown 
into a trunk each time the owner went on a journey. 

After the owner's death, I was asked to see if the 
pistol was safe. 

It was lying in its case beside the bed, and when 
I opened the case I found the barrel was lying so 
that it pointed at the head of any one sleeping in 
the bed. 

I found it loaded in all the chambers, the 
hammer let down on one of the caps so that its 



28 The Modern Pistol 

sharp point, by constant friction, had polished and 
nearly worn through the cap. 

I took it into the garden and fired that cart- 
ridge. 

The hammer had during all those years rested 
on this cap and the least tap on the hammer would 
have fired it. Each time it was thrown into the 
trunk it was a mercy it had not gone off. 

If it had remained on the cap much longer, the 
sharp nose of the hammer would have reached the 
fulminate and fired the revolver. 

Here was a case of a loaded revolver, like the 
sword of Damocles, threatening the life of its 
owner all night long, every night, though it was 
put by the bed as a safeguard. 

The hammer should have been put down on an 
empty chamber. 

However, to repeat, never point a pistol under 
any circumstances at anything you do not want 
to shoot. 

Never have it loaded except when absolutely 
necessary. 

Now as to when it is necessary to have it loaded. 
Most people are much safer if they never load it. 
If you want a pistol to frighten burglars with or 
to carry in dark lanes at night, get a brightly plated 
nickel one. The larger you can carry the better. 
Do not buy any cartridges for it. 

If you get the gunmaker to render it impossible 
to fire it, even if loaded, so much the better. 

You can stop any but the most desperate man 



How to Prevent Accidents 29 

by "brandishing" this at him in approved theatri- 
cal style. 

I know of a jeweller who stopped a highwayman 
by pointing the nickel plated pump of his bicycle 
at him. 

During the war a man took a number of the 
enemy prisoners by threatening them with his 
empty revolver. 

For people who know nothing of firearms it is 
much the safest plan not to have any cartridges. 
-. Never allow "ornaments" shaped like pistols 
to lie about. 

People get so used to playing with these that 
they at once point a real pistol when they can get 
hold of it. 

Even when a pistol has to be fired it only needs 
to be loaded just before being used, as a rule. 

When target shooting, it need only be loaded, the 
moment before getting into position for shooting. 
If all the shots are not immediately fired from this 
position it should be at once unloaded. 

I saw a most disgraceful neglect of this precau- 
tion at a shooting meeting, which if the Range 
Officer had also seen , the man would have been 
expelled from all meetings. He was an expert 
revolver shot too! 

Several of us had made very good scores with 
the revolver at a stationary target. 

This man came up carrying a hand bag in which 
his revolver and cartridges were kept. 

' ' I have a few minutes to spare before my train 



30 The Modern Pistol 

goes, and I will have another try to beat you"; so 
saying he took out his revolver and cartridges, 
handed in his ticket, loaded, and began a score. 
He made three bad shots, swore, then without 
taking out his cartridges, he just opened his bag, 
put the revolver in, shut the bag and went off. 

Never touch an automatic pistol until you are 
expert with a single-shot pistol. I do not mean 
expert to make good scores, but absolutely safe 
not to point it at any one, and able to take out the 
cartridge with safety or to put the pistol at safe 
or half-cock. 

We will suppose you have the single-shot pistol 
and cartridges, and the target in front of you with 
a sufficiently large background that it does not 
matter where your bullet goes if you keep your 
muzzle always pointed in that direction. 

It is almost impossible to have a range absolutely 
safe against an accidental discharge putting the 
bullet over the butts. 

A man who swings his pistol over his head is 
almost sure some day to let off a bullet high over 
the butts if he does not blow his own brains out 
first. 

If the shooter pays attention all the time to 
keeping the muzzle of his pistol pointed towards 
the butt he will be safe even if his pistol goes off 
accidently. 

The barrel must be aligned towards the butt. 
Most beginners think that, if they see the muzzle 
of the pistol against the butt, it is aimed at the 



How to Prevent Accidents 31 

butt. That is not so. You can hold a pistol almost 
vertical like a candle in its socket, and think the 
muzzle covers the centre of the target, but if it is 
fired in this position the bullet will go straight in 
the air. 

To aim a pistol, the breech (the part nearest the 
butt of the pistol) must be aligned with the muzzle 
on the target. 

Keep the pistol lying on a table before you and 
pointing at the butt, and when you lift it always 
keep it thus horizontal or slightly inclining towards 
the ground but always pointed at the butt. 

All single-shot breech-loading pistols open by 
pressing a lever, whether on top, at the side, or 
underneath the barrel. 

Press this and open the pistol, look through the 
barrel to see that there is no cartridge in it and 
that the barrel is clear, and then close it. 

Do this constantly for many days, so that you 
get into the habit the moment you take the pistol 
in your hand to look through it to see if it is un- 
loaded, and no obstruction in it. To fire a pistol 
which has an obstruction in the barrel may burst 
the pistol. 

If any one asks to see the pistol, first open it in 
his presence, of course pointing away from him or 
any one else, and look through the barrel before 
handing it to him. If an automatic, first take out 
the magazine and open the barrel as well. 

Unless he is a shooting man do not hand him any 
cartridges. If he wants to see what your cartridges 



32 The Modern Pistol 

are like take the pistol back, open it again and see 
that it is still empty, put it away safely, and then 
hand him a cartridge to examine. 

All this may seem super-caution but it is neces- 
sary, especially with an automatic, and unless you 
do this by instinct with the safer single-shot pistol, 
you may at any moment have a dreadful accident 
with an automatic for which you will be sorry all 
your life. 

Now, standing facing the butt, open the pistol, 
put a cartridge in it (an empty cartridge case, not 
a loaded one). Put the pistol, if it has an outside 
hammer, to full -cock, being very careful to keep 
it pointed at the butt, lower the hammer to half- 
cock, open the pistol and extract the cartridge, and 
close the pistol again; repeat this many times 
till you can cock and half-cock without the ham- 
mer slipping or falling by accident. 

If it had a loaded cartridge in it the pistol would 
go off should you let the hammer slip down, which 
is one of the most frequent causes of accidents 
with pistols having external hammers. 

Some hammer pistols have a rebound, that is, 
when the hammer falls it rebounds to half-cock. 



CHAPTER VII 
how to prevent accidents (Continued) 

Do not forget the hammer has three positions. 

Down on the cartridge, "half-cock," and "full- 
cock. ' ' The latter is when the pistol is ready to be 
fired, when at half-cock it cannot be fired by pulling 
the trigger and is supposed to be safe against 
accidental discharge, but it can be fired accidently 
if, in raising the hammer to full-cock it slips, owing 
to clumsiness or a greasy hammer or thumb, or 
the hammer may get caught in something and be 
raised accidentally. 

For this reason it is best to have the part of the 
hammer the thumb presses against in cocking cor- 
rugated, roughed like a file. 

Take the barrel in the left hand, holding the 
pistol horizontally pointing at the target. 

Take the grip in your right hand, put your right 
thumb on the projection of the cock (not from 
straight behind it but slightly from the right side) ; 
this enables you to get a firm grip of the hammer 
and at the same time of the stock with your other 
fingers. 

Now, do not do what all beginners do. 
3 33 



34 The Modern Pistol 

Do not put your first finger on the trigger when 
cocking. Keep all your fingers outside the trigger 
guard to avoid any chance of your touching the 
trigger when cocking. 

There are two causes of accidental falling of the 
hammer in cocking and so causing an accidental 
discharge of the pistol. 

One is the hammer slipping from the thumb, or 
being released by the thumb before it is fully at 
full-cock. 

The other is pulling at the trigger at the same 
time that the pistol is being cocked (which learners 
invariably do). 

The result of pulling the trigger at the same 
time is that the hammer does not catch into the 
bent which holds it, and falls as soon as the thumb 
is removed. 

There is a click when the pistol is well at full- 
cock, which tells you the pistol is properly cocked, 
the hammer or cock goes slightly beyond full -cock 
and then comes into place by a click. (See quota- 
tion from Byron's Don Juan on a later page.) 

To put to half-cock is the most ticklish of all and 
is the cause of most pistol accidents. 

The thing to do is to let the hammer fall to just 
below half-cock and then bring it back to half- 
cock. If it falls too low it fires the pistol, if it does 
not click it has not properly got to half-cock. 

Still holding the barrel of the pistol in the left 
hand and the grip in your right (keep the pistol 
carefully pointed at the butt where an accidental 



How to Prevent Accidents 35 

discharge would do no harm), put your right 
thumb on the hammer. When you have a firm 
touch of it so that it cannot escape you as it falls., 
put your first finger on the trigger and press, but 
only for an instant. 

The hammer will fall but you must keep it from 
falling fast, by holding back with your thumb. 
Lower the hammer down to just below half-cock 
back to half-cock and then release your thumb 
hold. 

If the hammer went its full fall it would explode 
the cartridge. With a rebounding hammer, the 
hammer falls and instantly springs back to half- 
. cock. Therefore in letting a rebounding lock down 
from full to half-cock, if you are able to restrain 
it well during the first part of its descent, even if it 
slips from your thumb before it is quite at half- 
cock, the rebound overcomes the downward fall 
and it rebounds to half-cock without actually 
exploding the cartridge because it does not quite 
reach it. 

Half-cock is the safest position for a loaded 
single-shot pistol but not safe enough to carry in a 
pocket or holster loaded. For that, it needs a 
safety lock to hold it at half-cock. 

As you gain confidence you will find that, with a 
rebounding lock (such as all duelling pistols of 
full-size calibre by the best makers have) ,it requires 
very little holding back at the hammer in letting 
it down to half-cock and the hammer remains at 
half-cock by itself, without any click. 



36 The Modern Pistol 

With an ordinary hammer which remains down 
when it is fired (like many single-shot pistols of 
American make or the .2 bulleted caps of the 
"Flobert Pistol"), the hammer must be kept 
firmly held until it is below half-cock, and then 
brought to half-cock where it will click, as it also 
does at full-cock. 

The great advantage of an automatic pistol is 
that it does not have this click and so does not give 
warning to an adversary and is not apt to go off 
by accident when being put at safe. 

If the trigger is held back whilst cocking it is 
as if you were to ask a man to sit down and pull 
the chair from under him. He falls just like the 
hammer. 

Almost all modern pistols with visible hammers 
have rebounding locks so that after the hammer 
falls, on the trigger being pressed, and explodes 
the cartridge, then it jumps back to half-cock of 
itself. This saves time as otherwise the hammer 
resting on the exploded cartridge would have to 
be raised by the thumb to half-cock before the 
exploded cartridge could be extracted and a fresh 
one put in. 

Now, practise till you are perfect, using an 
empty cartridge. 

Open, insert cartridge, close, put to full-cock, 
lower to half-cock, extract cartridge, close pistol. 

Do not be satisfied till you can do all this with- 
out a hitch or hesitation and without letting the 
hammer slip. 



How to Prevent Accidents 37 

When you do this perfectly you can go on to the 
next lesson, but not before. 

When you have the pistol at full-cock, it can be 
fired by pressing the trigger, but we have not come 
to that yet. We are only learning how to safely 
handle a pistol. 



CHAPTER VIII 



TRIGGER-PULL 



Very few people pay attention to the strength 
of the trigger-pull of their pistols. 

They accept whatever trigger-pull it has when 
they buy it. 

They do not know that trigger-pull can vary 
from a hair trigger up to many pounds weight. 
. First-class gunmakers make the "weight, " as it 
is called, of their trigger as light and smooth as 
possible subject to its being safe to handle. 

The subject of safe trigger-pull is a variable 
quantity. 

An expert shot can be trusted with a trigger-pull 
so light that in the hands of a less skilful or careful 
shot there would be great danger of the pistol 
being discharged accidentally. The automatic 
pistol is put to full-cock automatically with 
violence, by the discharge. Therefore the trigger- 
pull has to be made much heavier than the trigger- 
pull of a single-shot pistol, where the shooter cocks 
it gently with his own hand. 

A typical example of how men, even after a life- 
time of shooting, pay no attention to the weight of 
their trigger-pulls occurs to me. 
38 



Trigger-Pull 39 

An old gentleman, belonging to one of the 
learned professions, who had been an enthusiastic 
but very bad shot all his life, asked me to try his 
shotgun at some clay pigeons. 

He was one of those men who always pride 
themselves on getting things cheaper than any 
one else. 

He did not understand that a good gun is 
expensive ; and that a second-hand gun by a first- 
class maker is much better value (and safer to use) 
than a cheap new gun. 

• Acting on his usual principle, he had bought a 
gun very cheap, "a splendid bargain which I 
have used the last ten years. I am not as strong 
as I once was so I bought a featherweight one." 

To buy a light, cheap gun is extremely dangerous. 
Only a very first-class maker can reduce the weight 
of a gun to its limit without risk of a burst, and 
the materials must be flawless. 

When I saw the gun I was sorry I had offered to 
shoot it. The barrels looked fearfully thin at the 
breech, of inferior metal, and rattled from bad 
fitting, when one succeeded in closing the gun. 

The weakness of the gun, however, was made up 
by the strength of the cartridges, which were for 
pigeon shooting, and loaded with a full ij4 ounces 
of shot and an enormous charge of nitro powder. 

The gun had the proof mark for black powder 
only! 

He was delighted with his cartridges and told 
me he had bought them at a great bargain from 



40 The Modern Pistol 

the executors of a celebrated pigeon shot recently 
deceased. 

I ventured to suggest that it might be dangerous 
to shoot such a heavy charge of nitro powder out 
of a very light gun proofed only for black powder. 

He said: "That's nothing, I am not as active 
as I was and I was told these cartridges would 
kill much farther than lighter loaded ones, and 
how cheap they are! " 

I, with many misgivings, had a clay pigeon 
thrown, but the gun refused to go off. 

I took out the cartridges and tested the trigger- 
pulls by feel. 

They were like lifting a coal scuttle. 

I said to him : ' ' Do you know what your trigger- 
pull is?" He did not understand what I meant. 
I used a trigger-tester. They were well over nine 
pounds each. A shotgun generally has 2)4, for 
front trigger and 2% for back trigger. 

I had another pigeon thrown. 

I took a hard tug at the trigger and the gun 
went off with such a recoil that the stock nearly 
jumped off my shoulder. I do not know where 
the charge went; the pigeon was almost out of 
range before I could get the trigger to act. (I 
learned the cartridges had been stored near the 
kitchen fire ! ! !) 

This was enough for me and fully explained why 
the old man, whilst shooting all his life, had never 
become expert. 

First-class gunmakers see to the trigger-pull so 



Trigger-Pull 41 

as to make a compromise between a nice, light 
trigger-pull and one safe to use. 

Military rifles are made with a very heavy 
trigger-pull in order to make them safe to be 
handled by men who have rough, hard hands 
from manual labour. 

This, in my opinion, is a mistake. A very heavy 
trigger-pull prevents accurate shooting, because 
the rifle is always going off later than you want it 
to and encourages hanging on to the trigger. 

The man gets into the habit of pressing on the 
trigger when he is not shooting. He knows the rifle 
will not go off unless he gives a tug at the trigger. 

With a light trigger, a man knows that he must 
keep his finger clear of it, or he will fire his rifle 
accidentally. 

When learning the handling of the single-shot 
pistol (the automatic must not be touched till the 
learner is familiar with the single-shot), blank 
ammunition may be used. 

The learner is very apt to discharge his pistol 
unintentionally, and the fright caused by firing 
a blank cartridge by accident will impress on him 
to be more careful in the future, before he had a 
loaded cartridge in the pistol, which might cause a 
fatal accident if discharged unintentionally. 

As the automatic cannot be made with as light 
a trigger-pull as a single-shot pistol, it becomes a 
question as to how light the trigger-pull of your 
single-shot pistol should be. 

If you want to make the best possible shooting 



42 The Modern Pistol 

with it and to make your lessons as pleasant and 
as easy as possible, have as light a trigger-pull as 
your gunmaker (not an ironmonger who sells fire- 
arms) recommends. 

If, however, it is important that you should 
learn an automatic pistol well, and the single-shot 
pistol is only used for getting familiar with fire- 
arms, then have the trigger-pull adjusted to be as 
near as possible, not only of the strength, but of 
the character of the automatic pistol you intend 
to use later. 

Two triggers of the same weight may vary 
greatly in the feel and sweetness of the pull. 

One may dragor grate. The other seems to go 
off at your mere wish. 

No automatic can have the delicate touch of 
a single-shot pistol. It has to withstand such 
rough handling by the mechanical loading of the 
explosion. 

A thing to be especially remembered is that one 
who is not expert, trying to put the pistol to half- 
cock, ruins the trigger-pull and renders it unsafe. 

The point of the seer can be broken off or dis- 
torted by someone fumbling with the trigger and 
hammer. 

Do not let people touch the hammer or trigger 
of your pistol, any more than you would let them 
jerk your horse's mouth. 

In the course of your first trials in cocking, 
putting to half-cock, etc., you will probably injure 
your trigger-pull more or less, and should you feel 



Trigger-Pull 43 

the least alteration or grate in it, have it examined 
by a gunmaker before worse mischief occurs. 

With a hammerless (i. e., pistol with invisible 
hammer inside the lock) there is not this danger. 
Cocking is accomplished by the act of closing or 
opening the pistol which at the same time causes 
the hammer to be locked at safety. 

What corresponds to cocking and putting to 
half-cock is accomplished by sliding the safety 
bolt to the firing position, or to "safe." 

It is advisable to have the same weight of 
trigger-pull on all your pistols. If they vary it 
makes it difficult to shoot equally well with all. 
The heavier trigger-pull of some will hamper you, 
and the lighter trigger-pull on others may make 
you discharge them before you mean to. 

As individual fancy in trigger-pull varies, some 
makers sell their pistols with intentionally a very 
heavy trigger-pull, so that their clients can have it 
regulated to their requirements. This probably 
was the reason my old man had such a heavy trig- 
ger-pull on his "greatest bargain I ever saw" gun. 

Before practising for or entering a competition, 
see that your trigger-pull complies with the regu- 
lations, as nothing is more annoying than, after 
making a winning score, to find your trigger-pull 
is too light and your score in consequence is 
disqualified. 

It is best to have the trigger-pull well over the 
minimum so as to allow for its getting lighter 
during shooting. 



CHAPTER IX 

AMMUNITION 

Every make of pistol has ammunition which 
suits it best. In fact, to shoot what was made for 
it. In the case of automatic pistols, they will not 
work properly unless their own ammunition is used. 

It is very dangerous to shoot the wrong ammuni- 
tion out of a pistol. It may burst it. I nearly 
had such an accident with a revolver when winning 
a prize given for the best score with a certain make 
of powder. 

I found the pistol working very stiff in the 
revolution of the cylinder, toward my last shots, 
and when I had finished I looked and saw that 
the cylinders had become egg shape, caused by 
the pressure of the explosion, which was greater 
than the powder-charge the pistol was made to 
withstand. 

It was only the excellence of the material which 
caused the cylinder chambers to expand toward 
their weakest point (the circumference of the 
cylinder) , instead of bursting. 

It was this expansion that had caused the fric- 
tion in turning the cylinder. 
44 



Ammunition 45 

As my book is not a gunmaker's catalogue there 
is no use in giving illustrations of ammunition. 

Such illustrations are neither artistic nor of any 
interest. Many makes of cartridges are long since 
obsolete and only linger in catalogues because the 
old blocks happen to still exist and can be used to 
fill up a catalogue and make it "fully illustrated." 

Any one conversant with pistols does not even 
glance at them. When he buys the pistol, he also 
buys the cartridge made for it. He does not buy 
a pistol and then try which make of cartridge will 
fit into the chamber. 

A cartridge should fulfil the following conditions : 

First of all, it should be safe against accidental 
explosion, such as dropping or when feeding 
through the magazine of an automatic pistol. 
Next, the case should not split or swell when fired, 
so as to make it difficult to extract. 

Next (this is a matter also of the construction 
of the pistol) , it should not blow back fire into the 
eyes of 'the shooter. This has several times hap- 
pened to me with cheap makes of rifles and pistols 
and one is very apt to have such an accident when 
shooting at bottles at a fair with cheap worn rifles. 

I asked a woman attending at one of the shoot- 
ing booths at a fair, if it was not very dangerous 
when drunken men came to shoot. 

She answered : " Oh no, when a man looks danger- 
ous I load only blank ammunition for him." 

The chief requisite is accuracy; and without 
accuracy a cartridge is useless. 



CHAPTER X 

FIRST LESSONS 

As the automatic pistol is a very dangerous 
one for a novice to handle, it is best for the 
beginner to first thoroughly master a single-shot 
pistol. 

There are several styles of single-shot pistols 
(see Plates 2, 9, 10, and 17). I will not give a 
list and description of all makes, like a gun- 
maker's catalogue. I will merely describe a few 
of the typical ones. Very many are not only 
obsolete but of no use, and I do not intend to 
describe any pistol or ammunition merely to con- 
demn it. 

All that I describe have some merit, and most 
of them have great merit. Still if there is any 
ammunition or pistol left out, you must not at 
once jump to the conclusion that I consider it bad 
or dangerous; it may be that it was omitted 
through an oversight. 

It is best to have a pistol light in weight and 
shooting as small a charge as possible, so that 
there may be no great weight to hold up and no 
flinching from the noise or recoil. 
.46 



First Lessons 



47 





PLATE 2. BREECH-LOADING PISTOLS 

(By Gastinne-Renette) 



48 The Modern Pistol 

With a very small charge it is possible to use a 
very light pistol, and though this is advisable for 
a beginner still, weight in a pistol, even if it shoots 
only a very small charge, is an advantage for 
accurate holding. 

The trigger-pull must not be lighter than 2]4 
pounds for safety (especially for a beginner) and 
if the pistol weighs less than 2% pounds, it is very 
difficult to press the trigger without disturbing 
the aim. 

Lightness in weight of the pistol is also often 
obtained by shortness of barrel, and to shoot a 
pistol with only a two or three inch barrel is the 
supreme test of skill in pistol shooting and a useless 
handicap to a learner. 

At one time I thought it impossible for good 
shooting to be had out of a two inch barrel, but 
.a friend and I tested this at twenty-five metres, 
and we both, after a few trials, got strings of shots 
on the chest of a life-sized figure of a man target. 

But it requires a man who has shot for many 
years to be able to do this; even an average shot 
goes very wide and wild in his shooting with such 
a short barrel. 

These very short barrels are therefore useless 
for the general public for self-protection, except 
when the pistol actually touches the opponent. 

Even the short police pistol requires a lot of 
learning. Most people imagine it is merely neces- 
sary to buy a little pistol ' ' which I can put in my 
waistcoat pocket, " to become burglar proof. 



First Lessons 49 

This sort of thing is worse than 
useless. If you leave a man alone 
he will most likely leave you alone, 
but if you annoy him by banging 
at him, he may lose his temper 
and hurt you. 

A reasonably long barrel is 
therefore necessary for a beginner, 
and a reasonably heavy weight. 

The cartridges may have light 
loads. Unfortunately the easiest 
pistol of all, to shoot, is now im- 
possible to be had except from a 
dealer in a second-hand firearms. 
I mean the "Flobert" duelling 
pistol, formerly made in France 
and Belgium, shooting bulleted 
caps of about .2 calibre. 

The duelling pistol, in all its 
calibres, is the best balanced and 
easiest to shoot of all pistols (see 
Plates 2 and 5). 

The stock is at just the right 
curve and angle, is large enough 
for a big hand, and yet does not 
feel clumsy in a small hand. 

By taking the grip of the hand 
higher or lower, the same effect is 
produced as in having a gun stock k-ate 3. 

• 1 . , Author's winning score 

straignter or more bent ; one can, forGastinne-Renette 
therefore, by altering the grip of competition, April 7, 



50 The Modern Pistol 

the hand, find a place to hold which makes the 
pistol come with the sights aligned on raising it, 
just as a well-fitting gun "comes up." 

Next this pistol balances perfectly. The length 
of the barrel does not make it top heavy, as the 
barrel is fluted, to lighten it forward, and the 
stock weighted. 

Most pistols, automatics especially, are muzzle 
heavy. There is really no pistol except the duel- 
ling pistol which balances properly, and the auto- 
matic will have to be altered in this respect 
before it can become the ideal weapon for rapid 
shooting. 

The ideal pistol is the Gastinne-Renette duelling 
pistol, which is of .44 calibre muzzle loader or 
shoots a centre fire cartridge, with French "Pou- 
dre J ' ' and a round bullet (see Plates 2 and 9) . 

This is the most accurate pistol in the world and 
a number of men have made a score of 12 shots in 
a bull's-eye the size of a sixpence, in succession at 
16 metres (17 yards 1 foot). 

This pistol has very little recoil. If the beginner 
cannot get a "bulleted cap" duelling pistol the 
ordinary .44 gallery ammunition duelling pistol 
will do almost as well. 

Now arises the question of expense, as these 
pistols are expensive. 

If economy is necessary, then the only way is to 
get one of the American single-shot pistols and add 
wood to the back of the stock, so that the grip 
comes further back and the trigger is thereby 



First Lessons 51 

further from the hand and allows the trigger finger 
to be extended. 

Then either cut down the barrel to lighten the 
pistol forward, or have flutes made in the barrel 
to take weight of the metal off, and put lead in the 
stock. 

I have described the ideal way of learning to 
shoot a pistol but of course any single-shot pistol 
which does not have too heavy a recoil will do to 
learn with, so as to become a fair shot. 

With the long reach to the trigger of the French 
duelling pistols the trigger finger can be held 
outside and along the trigger guard (as with a shot- 
gun when walking up birds). With the trigger 
so far back, as it is in American single-shot pistols, 
it is difficult to introduce the finger into the trigger 
guard whilst holding the pistol with one hand, and 
one gets into the dangerous habit of keeping the 
ringer inside the trigger guard. 

I will not describe these various single-shot 
pistols, as (in my own case) I find shooting them 
does not do me any good, but teaches a cramped 
style. 

The pistol which is no longer made, but can per- 
haps be picked up, is a regulation French duelling 
pistol, full size, which shoots, instead of the .44 
duelling charge, a bulleted cap of .2 calibre, with 
fulminate only, and a round bullet, and is exploded 
by a cross bar on the hammer which has a flat 
striking surface. This flat bar strikes across the 
whole face of the cap, indents itself into the cap, 



52 



The Modern Pistol 



and having an undercut surface extracts the empty 
cap after it is fired, as the pistol is cocked. 

The pistol has no recoil and hardly more noise 
than an air gun. 

The manufacture would be resumed if there were 
enough demand for such pistols, and in my opinion 
they ought to be made as they are infinitely prefer- 
able to modern .22 calibre pistols. 




COLT AUTOMATIC PISTOL, 
POCKET MODEL, CALIBRE .32 



CHAPTER XI 

LEARNING TO SHOOT 

Having a pistol and ammunition, the next thing 
is to find a place to shoot in with safety and 
comfort. 

.The usual procedure is as follows : 

A says "I want to learn pistol shooting." 

"I know a place, " says B. 

They go off and find a shooting gallery. 

When they get there they go down a dark stair- 
case, into a long, dark cellar with a glimmer of 
light at the firing point and a glimmer of light at 
the far end, illuminating a series of minute white 
cards with a microscopic black dot on each. Men 
lie down on mats, to which they have to grope 
their way, shooting miniature rifles at these minute 
spots. 

Why, when a man wants to learn to shoot, has 
he to go into a coal cellar and ruin his eyesight 
seeing, as one shooter complained, "three front 
sights and two back ones ' ' ? 

To shoot one needs all the daylight possible. 

One sees fine big public buildings, and is told 
"They have a Shooting Range for their employees, 
is it not nice of them ? ' ' 

53 



54 The Modern Pistol 

You go to it. There is a big bar, with plenty of 
daylight, rooms with plenty of daylight for games, 
meals, etc., and then the inevitable dark staircase 
into a black cellar called the shooting-gallery. 

If you cannot shoot in daylight do not shoot at 
all; you will only ruin your eyesight and never 
learn to shoot properly. 




PLATE 4. COLT AUTOMATIC PISTOL .22 TARGET MODEL 

Capacity of magazine: 10 shots. Length of Barrel: 6| inches. 
Length over all : io| inches. Weight: 28 ounces. Finish: full 
blued; checked English walnut stocks. Sights: bead front sight, 
adjustable for elevation; rear sight with adjusting screw, ad- 
justable for windage. Distance between sights: 9 inches. 
Cartridge: .22 long rifle, rim fire {greased cartridges only). We 
strongly recommend the use of either Lesmok or Semi- 
Smokeless. 

All these artificial-light rifle galleries, to teach 
the public to shoot, are worse than useless. The 
Gastinne-Renette Gallery in Paris is an ideal 
gallery (see Plates 15 and 16). 

Learning to shoot is surely more worth while 



Learning to Shoot 55 

than playing bridge or golf, and who would play 
bridge or golf in the dark? 

Choose, if possible, a range out of doors, or at 
least in a well -lighted room (lighted by daylight, 
not artificial light), but if there has to be artificial 
light, let it be at least as light as in a ball-room. 

Next, there must be a safe butt behind the target ; 
a butt which will not only stop bullets which hit 
or go near the target, but which will stop a bullet 
which goes wide of the target. 

It should be so arranged that if the pistol goes 
off by accident the bullet can do no harm. 

If there is a narrow stall, opening towards the 
target and high enough at the sides and narrow 
enough to prevent the shooter turning with his arm 
extended, it would be a great safeguard, as it will 
make it difficult for him to turn round and speak 
to others with his pistol pointing at them. 

A thick ceiling will prevent his doing damage 
if his pistol goes off accidentally into the air, and 
soft deal flooring will stop bullets shot too low. 
A hard floor may cause dangerous ricochets. 

The beginner is very apt to look only at his front 
sight and instead of getting it down into the V or 
U of the back sight, fire with his front sight alone 
on the target, so great care must be taken to pro- 
tect against high shots off the target. 

Out of doors, a butt six feet high is very little 
protection as the beginner is almost certain to 
let off shots over the top. 

With the bulleted caps there is, of course, not 



56 The Modern Pistol 

much danger if a shot goes over the top of a butt, 
especially if there is a wood, or shed without 
windows, beyond, to catch the bullet. 

Another point is to have a table or shelf in front 
of the shooter, so that he can lay his pistol and 
cartridges on it, and if it is of thick wood, it pre- 
vents his shooting into his own feet. 

When instructing, it is best to stand at the 
beginner's left side and be ready to clutch his pistol 
if he turns it dangerously. 

The target should be a white bull's-eye of about 
five inches diameter on a black ground, and at six 
to ten yards' distance. 

The target should be of cardboard, so that the 
bullets will go through and into the butt — a hard 
target may make the bullets rebound. 

The duelling pistol has a silver bead front sight, 
and a big U back sight. 

The black front sight on most pistols is quite 
wrong. It prevents quick shooting, and I am in 
this book teaching quick, practical shooting only. 
Practice at hitting minute stationary objects with 
a long aim died out the same as the revolver did. 

Formerly, much of the revolver shooting was 
done at stationary black bull's-eyes on white 
targets, just like rifle shooting was done. I always 
protested against this, claiming that the revolver 
was meant for quick shooting at moving or sud- 
denly appearing objects, and that extreme accu- 
racy at stationary targets was not its metier. 

The war has proved I was right, and now these 



Learning to Shoot 57 

deliberate shooting exhibitions are used only to 
show what accuracy a pistol is capable of, like 
shooting rifles off a gunmaker's rest. A pistol shot 
out of a vise can show its capabilities better than 
any man can hold it. 

It was this shooting at black bull's-eyes on a 
white target which caused the front sight to be 
made black so as to show on the white target, when 
sighted at "6 o'clock" under the black bull's-eye. 
This is all wrong. When the black front sight is 
placed on a dark object, as a man's coat, it cannot 
be seen. 

The white or silver bead sight on the duelling 
pistol is instantly seen and is the only practical 
sight for a pistol. 

All this goes to show how worse than useless the 
old method of revolver shooting was, and I do not 
intend to revert to it in these instructions on shoot- 
ing its successor, the automatic pistol. 

Load the pistol, put it at full-cock, and take it 
in your right hand pointing in the direction of the 
target. 

Put it into the beginner's hand with both yours, 
the pistol pointed horizontally at the target. 
Make him grip it with three fingers, his thumb 
horizontal and slightly crooked downwards along 
the stock, his forefinger fully stretched along the 
outside of the trigger guard, and clear of the 
trigger. 

Tell him he must not put his finger inside the 
trigger guard till he has the pistol pointed enough 



58 The Modern Pistol 

towards the target to prevent the bullet going in a 
dangerous direction in case he fires it accidentally. 

Then show him how to see his front sight, in the 
middle of the U of the back sight, and to press the 
trigger. 

This preliminary stage ought for safety to be 
learned with an empty pistol. 

A person who is used to firearms (not necessarily 
one who is a pistol shot) should stand beside the 
pupil till the pupil learns the rudiment of safety 
against accidental discharge, and in aiming. 

If there is no such person available then the 
pupil should be quite alone, two people ignorant 
of firearms trying to learn at the same time are 
very apt to shoot each other. 

After the beginner can safely load, aim, and press 
the trigger, then he can begin to learn to shoot. 

Load the pistol, stand with the arm fully 
extended, the pistol resting against the further 
edge of the table or ledge. 

Fix the eyes on the bull's-eye, slowly raise the 
pistol, the arm fully extended (keeping the head 
quite upright). Raise the pistol till the right eye 
looks through the U of the back sight and sees the 
front sight in the U at the middle of the bull's- 
eye and press the trigger. 

Do not stand sideways, stand almost facing, only 
slightly forward with the right shoulder, the feet 
slightly apart, knees straight, arms straight. 
Nothing is worse than to shoot with a crooked or 
flabby right arm. You will never learn to shoot 



Learning to Shoot 59 

in this way, and a heavy automatic will hit you 
on the nose with the recoil. 

Stand rigid and upright, the swing of the arm 
upwards should continue and the shot go off as 
you come horizontally to the target. 

The idea is to fire the shot, just as you deal 
cards, raise and let off when you are horizontal. 
Do not poke with your head to see the sights, or 
find the sights and then hunt for the bull's eye with 
the muzzle of your pistol (like the rifle target shots 
do). 

Never let your pistol move an inch further than 
necessary. To lift it above your head and to 
lower it is not only dangerous but useless. You 
ought to raise to the target; not raise above it 
merely to come down to it again. 

That sort of "flourish" shooting (which is the 
hardest thing to stop in a learner) is as if, when you 
want to go next door to your neighbour you went 
all the way down the street and then turned back 
to reach him. Open your door, step to his door- 
way and go in. The man who swings his pistol 
("brandishes it" as reporters say) is at the mercy 
of the man who draws and fires in one movement. 

You ought, with practice, to be able after a few 
shots to shut your eyes and as the pistol gets level, 
fire, knowing that your aim is right. 

A fencer raises his foil with a straight arm and 
lunges. He does not need to aim along the foil. 
His sense of direction suffices. In the same way 
if your grip is right you ought to see your sights in 



60 The Modern Pistol 

line on the bull's-eye without any necessity of 
correcting your aim as your pistol comes up, and 
the whole thing should be done in one movement 
— raising arm, sighting, and pressing the trigger. 

The action becomes as mechanical as putting 
your spoon in your mouth when taking soup. 

This is the whole art of pistol shooting. Keep 
on, practise, practise and again practise, until it 
becomes mechanical. Once acquired you will 
never lose it. 

Only fire a few shots at a time, but several times 
a day. Do not worry about cleaning more than 
once a day if you have not the time. It is worth 
while spoiling the pistol if you can just get the 
knack of chucking your shots into the bull, 
instantly, with the minimum of time or movement 
of the pistol, like throwing stones into a bowl. 

A good fencer is known by the small circle his 
point makes when fencing. In the same way a 
good pistol shot is known by the small circle his 
muzzle makes when raising it and firing. 

I have seen men shoot revolvers at stationary 
targets, raise their pistol till it pointed vertically 
at the sky, aiming all the time, and then slowly 
bring the muzzle down till it was horizontal, and 
then begin to fish for the bull's-eye, straining their 
eyes for nothing and not learning anything of the 
very essence of pistol shooting which is "lightning 
speed with accuracy." 

Others ' ' brandish " or ' ' flourish ' ' their pistols and 
then let off into their friend's feet. 



Learning to Shoot 61 

I always leave the ground when I see men doing 
this. There is style in every pursuit, and style 
in pistol shooting consists in economy of movement 
and time and especially in timing one's swing, aim, 
and trigger-pull so that they go together and 
throw the bullet on to the mark. 

At twenty-five metres (a shade over twenty- 
seven yards) shooting at top speed oii}4 seconds a 
shot I won the Duelling Pistol Championship at 
Gastinne-Renette's in the year 1910 with two 
scores, one a full score for the twelve shots and 
the other one point short of a full score, at an 
invisible bull's-eye of six by four inches (see Plate 

3). 

I tell this merely to show what practice will do at 
this, the Alpha and Omega of pistol shooting. 

Just keep constantly practising at this, and all 
other pistol shooting, with whatever pistol or 
charge, is merely a variation of it. 

I know an extremely feeble old man who for 
many years each morning has half a dozen shots 
with a duelling pistol rapid-firing, and although he 
comes and goes a tottering, feeble old man, he 
brings up his pistol and hits the bull's-eye instantly, 
like a young man, when shooting. 



CHAPTER XII 

SIGHTS 

I put this chapter after the preliminary one on 
learning to shoot as, although sights are vital 
for good, quick, accurate shooting, the beginner 
is too occupied with other matters to pay much 
attention to what the sights are like. 

Now that the learner can load, fire, put his pis- 
tol to half-cock, etc., with safety to himself and 
others, he can begin to learn a little about sights. 

The sights are to enable him to align the barrel 
of his pistol accurately. 

By constant practice a man can learn to point 
with enough accuracy to hit an object of fair size 
at close quarters without sights, by sense of 
direction. 

When it gets up to ranges of twenty-five or more 
yards, or to hitting a smaller object at closer range, 
his sense of direction must be aided by aim. 

Almost all makers of pistols make the sights of 
their pistols wrong; the only proper sights are those 
on French duelling pistols (see Plates 2 and 10). 

The reason is obvious ; for duelling a man has to 
snap shoot. All other- pistol shooting, with very 
62 



Sights 63 

few exceptions, is very artificial and has been done 
in deliberate shooting at small black bull's-eyes 
just as rifle shooting was spoilt. 

I used to struggle with these minute sights at 
moving objects and rapid fire, and I am sure my 
record scores would have been much better if I 
had in those days known of the French duelling 
pistol sights and if, which is very doubtful, these 
sights had been passed as ' ' military sights ' ' which 
was an arbitrary term in England, changing from 
year to year. 

The ordinary pistol sights, as placed even now on 
the latest patterns of automatics, are the worst 
that one can imagine. 

What one wants is a front sight which shows up 
instantly against any object ; large so that it is the 
most prominent object in aiming, and a back sight 
with so big a U in it that you instantly get the 
front sight centrally in it. 

These conditions are fulfilled only by the French 
duelling sights. The front sight is a silver ball 
without stalk, as large as and similar to the one 
on a shotgun. 

Shotgun men found this the best sight and shot- 
gun shooting is snap shooting like pistol shooting is 
or ought to be. Now compare this with the sights 
on other pistols, especially military ones. They 
have a high knife blade, black front sight. The 
target pistols have a microscopic black bead on a 
very thin stalk which gets bent out of position 
at the least rough usage. 



64 The Modern Pistol 

For a hind sight there is a minute indentation 
in the bar of the hind sight. 

When added to this you are expected to see this 
microscopic dot, or a problematic part of the knife 
edge front sight (this latter worn to an indistinct 
grey by friction) into a slight notch which you 
would need a magnifying glass to find, and which 
is much too small to hold the front sight in, and to 
do all this in a black cellar so dark that you have 
to light a match to look for a cartridge if you drop 
it you can easily see that men give up pistol shoot- 
ing in disgust and want some sport where there is 
light and air, and in which they do not have to tire 
their eyes out to look for the front sight and a 
target at the end of a coal cellar. 

Whatever pistol you use, have it fitted with a big 
silver front bead sight placed close to the barrel, 
no matter how large it is, if your eyesight needs 
it large to see instantly in a bad light. 

Have the back sight with a big U in it so that 
you see daylight all round it when aiming with 
fully stretched arm. 

This front sight cannot be altered but the back 
sight can be made higher or lower to suit your style 
of aiming. At first you do not know if your bad 
shots are due to the sights not being suitable for 
you, or not being properly adjusted, or to your 
wobbly aim. There is no use going further into 
the matter now, but later I will show you how you 
can alter the sights to your own individual peculi- 
arities. 



Sights 65 

What I want to impress is, that from the very 
beginning, you should not worry yourself with the 
sights you find on pistols ; get your gunmaker to 
put on duelling pistol sights before you begin to 
learn. Tell him you want them for taking a full 
sight in daylight at twenty yards. Let him read 
this chapter and he will understand what you 
require. 

Always press straight back on your trigger, do 
not push it off to the left, or jerk at it. 

. In rifle shooting the left hand steadies the rifle 
and prevents this tendency to push off to one side 
and also in a measure counteracts the effects of 
snatching or jerking at the trigger. 

The pistol has no left hand to steady it. The 
right hand has not only to aim the pistol, but also 
to counteract the effect of any jerk, snatch, or push 
to one side from defective trigger pressing. 

It is as well to put in an empty cartridge case and 
to practise pressing the trigger and trying to have 
the pistol still aligned on the object the moment the 
hammer has fallen. Aim and press that trigger 
at your own eye reflected in a glass and you can 
see if you pull off your aim. 

By doing this you can detect any jerk to the 
right or left, or up or down. 

With an automatic there is a tendency to jerk 
down so that it is very important not to get into 
this habit in the preliminary practice with a single- 
shot pistol. 

When you get to grouping your shots well 



66 The Modern Pistol 

together, you can have your back sight altered 
so as to put this group into the centre of the object 
you want to hit, if it does not already go there. 

The great thing is to make as close a group of 
shots as you can ; if you group a dozen shots all in 
a bunch it is good shooting. It does not matter if 
they are not on the object you want to hit. That 
is merely a matter of having the back sight raised 
or lowered to cause the group to go higher or lower 
accordingly. 

Raising the back sight makes the group higher; 
lowering the back sight makes the group lower. 

Putting the back sight over to the right makes 
the group go to the right; putting the back sight 
over to the left makes the group go to the left. 

You should be cautious however about this 
lateral adjustment. It is better to correct your 
tendency to jerk to either side than to make the 
pistol conform to your bad trigger pressing. 

When giving instructions on learning to shoot 
in an early chapter, I took it for granted that the 
learner is using a pistol he is reliably informed 
shoots where the sights are pointed. 

A beginner cannot know himself whether the 
fault is his or the pistol's when he makes a bad 
shot, so he gets into a hopeless tangle when using a 
pistol wrongly sighted. 

An expert after a shot or two to find how the 
pistol is sighted can make allowance for the error 
in the sights. I saw a man make a marvellous 
score with a double barrelled rifle. I said to him 



Sights 67 

how well the barrels shot together and he an- 
swered, "I had to aim two inches higher and to 
the left with the left barrel than with the right 
barrel. " It was the man who was marvellous not 
the rifle. 

When a man begins to become expert he knows 
when his "let off" has been correct and that, if 
the bullet goes wide in such a case, it is not his 
fault, but the fault of the pistol. 

The modern single- shot pistol and automatic 
pistol are almost invariably very accurate, so if 
the bullet goes wrong when the pistol is ' ' let off ' ' 
correctly, it is the fault of the sights. 

Shots wide to the right or left mean in each case 
that the sights are not adjusted centrally to the 
barrel. 

The front sight, being a fixture, is very unlikely 
to be at fault, but the back sight may have got 
moved to one side. 

The back sight has generally a scratch made 
from its base onto the barrel, and if this scratch 
does not coincide then the sight has shifted and it 
must be knocked into place. 

When the back sight is central and the bullets do 
not group to either side of the mark, but where you 
aim, then fix the back sight permanently and 
immovable. 

A movable back sight is a constant annoyance 
and I never understand why makers put it so. 
You shoot badly and after wasting a lot of shots, 
find your back sight has shifted unobserved to one 



68 The Modern Pistol 

side. I lost a stag recently owing to the back 
sight of my rifle getting knocked off, being wedged 
only in a slot instead of being screwed in. 

Have this back sight absolutely central. If you 
shoot to one side correct your way of letting off. 
Do not shift the back sight to avoid the trouble of 
learning to let off properly . 

If you do, you will be like a man driving who, 
instead of straightening his horse's mouth, puts 
one rein at the cheek and the other at the bottom 
bar and makes the horse go worse and more lop- 
sided every day till the horse is incurably crooked. 

If you keep on shifting the back sight to counter- 
act your bad let off, you will end by not being able 
to let off properly. 

If you shoot too high all you have to do is to file 
down the U in the hind sight, a little at a time, 
until it is right. If you shoot too low, you will 
have to get a higher back sight put in and file that 
down gradually till you get it right. 

The place to aim at is exactly where you want 
the ball to hit, seeing the whole of the ball of the 
front sight in the U of the back sight. Keep on 
working at the back sight till you arrive at this 
result. 

If in target shooting you aim at the bottom edge 
of the bull's-eye, you will require a different adjust- 
ment of sights for each size of bull's-eye. 

A two-inch bull's-eye at twenty yards requires 
the pistol to shoot one inch higher than the aim 
so as to put the bullet in the centre of the two- 



Sights 69 

inch disc when aimed at its bottom edge, and if the 
bull's-eye is four inches the pistol would have to 
be sighted to shoot two inches higher at the same 
distance to hit the centre. 

As natural objects are not at all of the same 
size, and you cannot carry twenty pistols shooting 
to various heights to choose from, it is best to have 
the pistol sighted to hit the exact spot you aim at, 
and then it does not matter if you are shooting at 
an elephant or a mouse, you can hit the spot. 

The tendency to "duck" and flinch at the noise 
and recoil makes beginners put their shots very 
low. 

The revolver used to make men shoot high, the 
automatic shoots low as a rule from muzzle heavi- 
ness, the wrong angle the stock is placed at, and 
the uneven blow back (which latter I will explain 
later) . 

Single-shot pistols are generally of American 
make and it is very curious what defects they have 
in comparison with the French duelling pistol. 

To begin with they have a stock too much at 
right angles to the barrel, and much too small and 
narrow. 

Next, the trigger is in the wrong place. The 
proper place for the trigger is so that you can just 
reach it with the first joint of the outstretched 
first finger. Pressing the trigger with the second 
finger is a ridiculous habit and, with an automatic 
pistol, results in making the pistol jamb burn the 
first finger with the ejecting cartridges. 



70 



The Modern Pistol 



The American single-shot pistols have the trig- 
ger so close to the hand that the trigger finger has 
to curl around the trigger beyond the second 
joint. 

I never could understand how Chevalier Ira 
Paine, with his big hand, managed to shoot Ameri- 
can single- shot pistols. 

The trigger being too close not only makes 
pressing it difficult but makes it so that, instead of 
straight back, it has to be pressed to the left and 
sends the bullet to the left. 




COLT AUTOMATIC PISTOL, MILITAI 
MODEL, CALIBRE .45 




COLT AUTOMATIC PISTOL, MILITARY 
MODEL, CALIBRE .38 



CHAPTER XIII 



TARGETS 



I began my instruction with a white bull's-eye 
on a black target, but, as soon as the pupil becomes 
a little proficient, this bull's-eye shooting should be 
stopped. 

The pupil should then learn to hit the middle 
of a large object, not a small object of different 
colour, superimposed on a larger one. 

The great difficulty beginners have in deer- 
stalking is that they aim at the stag as a whole, 
instead of trying to hit a definite part of him. 

If you aim at even a large object in the former 
way, you are very apt to miss it entirely. 

In France there are man targets of iron, the 
natural size of a man in profile, which can be stood 
on the ground in front of the butts. These are 
the best I know for shooting at with the small 
duelling charge. 

There are divisions incised into this target so 
that the marker, when he goes up, can see the value 
of the shot, but these divisions are invisible from 
where the shooter stands. He must judge as to 
where to aim and hit. 

71 



12 The Modern Pistol 

The target is painted over after each series of 
shots with a mixture of soot and water. 

Be sure not to use any size or varnish, as this 
fixes the black so that the bullet does not knock it 
off, and so shots are difficult to locate on the figure 
from the firing point. 

With soot and water the shots appear almost 
white on the target at the spot the soft lead bullet 
has flattened and dropped down, taking the soot 
with it. 

These iron targets are suitable only for soft lead 
bullets driven at low velocity. 

With a high-power automatic pistol it would 
be dangerous, as bullets would rebound or glance 
off long distances if the edge of the target were 
grazed. 

For shooting with powerful ammunition, the 
target must be of wood, or canvas on a wooden 
stretcher, with black paper pasted over it. The 
bullets go through into the butt, which latter must 
be exceptionally thick or else the last of several 
bullets striking in one place will go through it. 

The pattern of target we used at the Olympic 
Games at Stockholm in 1912, I do not like. It was 
much too big and the rings (upright ovals) too 
distinct. It was like shooting at an ordinary 
ring target with visible bull's-eye. 

It was a good idea, however, having upright ovals 
instead of circles for a man target, as a miss right 
or left is important, whereas a rather high or low 
shot would still strike a man. 



Targets 73 

For animal targets, on the Continent, these 
ovals are placed horizontally, because an animal is 
longer than it is high ; also for running shots a miss 
in front or behind the bull's-eye is more excusable 
than one over or under. 

The proper distance to practise at is the distance 
you can hit the invisible bull's-eye twice in three 
shots. As soon as you can do better than this, 
move the target a few feet further off, or decrease 
the size of the bull's-eye. 

The idea is to have a target on which when 
shooting your very best, you may just be able to 
make the highest possible score. 

This is the principle on which the targets are made 
in all the Gastinne-Renette competitions in Paris. 

The highest possible score is not beyond the 
power of the pistols, if held by a very good shot. 

For the Grande Medal d'Or, the holding has to 
be nearly as good as if the pistol were fixed in a vise, 
but it is possible to make, as several dozen winning 
targets made by the crack shots of the world 
testify. 

A target impossible to make a full score on dis- 
courages the shooter. 

It rather adds to the interest if a hit breaks 
something; if a clay pigeon, for instance, is put on a 
nail for a bull's-eye on a man target painted the 
same colour, it is practically an invisible bull and 
it is a great satisfaction to see the pieces instantly 
fly at a hit, instead of having to examine the target 
to see where your shots are. 



74 The Modern Pistol 

These clay pigeons, or soup plates, or whatever 
you use, would not do if put against an iron target, 
as the splash of the bullet would break them even 
if they were not actually hit. 

One can buy an apparatus in Paris which fills 
rubber balls with water, which make good targets 
to shoot at either hung up or thrown in the air. 

To hit them with a pistol with a bullet when 
thrown in the air is extremely difficult, and can 
only be safely tried when shooting out to sea, or 
against a high cliff. 

Single barrel pistols of 28 shotgun bore, 10-inch 
barrels are made to shoot shot, and these are very 
good for such shooting and train timing and swing 
in snap shooting. 

At eighty live pigeons at twelve yards' rise I have 
got more than half I shot at. One has to be quick, 
as the pigeon is so soon out of range. No. 7 shot 
is best for this, but the pistol only shoots half an 
ounce of shot, and makes a very small pattern. 

I will explain in the next chapter how to shoot 
so as to compel quick shooting without the cumber- 
some machinery for making a target appear and 
disappear. 

If you count seconds for yourself or have them 
counted for you, the time varies and one cannot 
help dwelling on the counting when a fraction more 
time is needed for your aim to be correct. 

The utmost care must be taken, if you have an. 
assistant to go to and from the target, not to point 
in his direction or to load before he has come 



Targets 75 

back. Even at otherwise well -managed shooting 
clubs, there is too much carelessness in this respect. 

Targets which draw up and down on trolleys are 
a great nuisance, and yet almost all shooting 
galleries are equipped with them, and their pre- 
sence is considered the acme of good gallery equip- 
ment in England. 

This may be all right for preventing markers 
being shot, but I prefer an iron man target, life 
size, standing on his feet in a green field with a 
suitable background. One can shoot so much 
better than at a figure painted on a flat back- 
ground. 

You see a miss by the momentary puff of dust 
where the bullet hits the ground, instead of having 
to look for a bullet hole in the painted background. 

It would be possible to make a target which 
drops down and rises again from the impact of the 
bullet. 

I have a target in the form of a stag which when 
you hit his invisible heart, he half rears, then bends 
his hocks and plunges down on his knees, throwing 
back his head in the most realistic manner. This 
stag, stood amongst long bracken and stalked, 
gives a most lifelike performance. 

He is wound up in various places and the shock 
of the bullet on a buffer releases the movements 
in succession with momentary intervals. 

It was made by a very ingenious target me- 
chanic, who also makes monkeys which run up a 
tree when hit, parrots who turn a somersault on 



76 The Modern Pistol 

the branch they are sitting on when hit, a man 
who takes off his hat and bows to you when you 
hit him properly, a chamois who tumbles over a 
precipice. 

The maker, who has a shooting gallery on the 
Continent, makes a good profit out of it, as the 
bull's-eyes are very small and difficult to hit, and 
people keep on paying to shoot in order to amuse 
their companions, and children beg their parents 
to try to set the automatons in motion. 



CHAPTER XIV 



PRACTICAL TARGETS 



The pistol being, primarily, a man-shooting 
weapon, the target for practice should be the shape 
of a full-sized man. 

The man target we used at the Olympic Games 
at Stockholm in 19 12, was a coloured paper target 
of a soldier standing at attention, full face. This 
was pasted on a wooden board cut to the same 
shape. 

The bull's-eye was an upright oval on the breast, 
surrounded by concentric upright ovals. 

The divisions could be seen from the firing point. 
Competition at it was permitted with .22 pistols, 
which was ridiculous as they are not duelling 
pistols, or suitable for war or self-defence. 

The regulation French Duelling Target is made 
in several ways, but in all cases it is the figure of a 
man painted black, standing in absolute profile 
(see Plate 3). 

This can be had, either printed on paper, to 

paste on a board cut out to its shape, in cast iron 

with a base so that it stands up of itself, or of 

steel with an electrical device for registering the 

77 



78 The Modern Pistol 

shots. The figure is in profile, which is not 
correct. 

A proficient duellist stands as full face as a man 
shooting a gun. This position is easier to shoot in, 
but it is also easier to hit. 

In the absolute profile target, the places where 
misses are usually made are past the small of the 
waist and under the chin. These would not occur 
on a man standing full face, or nearly so. 

The target of paper pasted on wood has the 
bullet holes covered by white and black paper 
pasters. 

The bullet hole is first pasted over with a white 
paster, so as to show its place from the firing 
point. After the next shot a white paster is put on 
this fresh shot and the former shot obliterated 
by a black paster. 

On this target there is no bull's-eye and all hits, 
anywhere, have an equal value. 

In competitions, a row of these figures stand in 
the field and the marker, after a shot at each has 
been fired, goes down the line and pastes white 
pasters over the bullet holes and black patches 
over where he finds a white patch. He need not 
say anything, when he has finished, it is at once 
seen from the firing point which targets have been 
hit and where, and what targets have been missed. 

The iron target is divided by incised lines into 
an oblong bull's-eye with various subdivisions as 
shown in the diagram (see Plate 3). 

The bull's-eye counts four, the space on each 



Practical Targets 79 

side three, the space below two, and the head and 
the bottom of the frock coat one each. These 
divisions are invisible from the firing point. 

When these are painted with soot and water, or 
distemper black and water, the bullet knocks off 
the black and leaves a distinct lead-coloured mark. 

When shot at in the open this is all that is neces- 
sary, but if, instead of a bank behind the figure 
there is a wall, this wall is painted white and a 
second lot of paint (this time whitewash) is kept 
for whitening the wall, if a shot hits that, to obliter- 
ate it so as to show where misses go. 

An inexperienced marker is apt to put his brush 
into the wrong pot, so that the result is a grey 
colour. 

The electric marking target looks exactly like 
this last and is painted after shots in the same 
way, but the various divisions are separate plates 
which stand on rods with springs behind. 

When a shot strikes any plate it drives it back, 
and the spring returns it to place. 

The act of driving back makes electric connec- 
tion, transmitted by wires, to a small copy of the 
target, like the indicator inside a hotel lift, and 
rings a bell. It shows the value of the shot and 
approximately the place it has struck. The actual 
spot struck is not indicated. 



CHAPTER XV 

HOW TO HOLD THE PISTOL 

As the revolver had a short stock with an acute 
curve and was muzzle heavy, the grip I recom- 
mend for it is not suitable for the duelling pistol 
or automatic. 

I take the duelling pistol first as that has the 
ideal handle or stock; the automatic, except in 
the American Colt Regulation .45, being open to 
great improvement. 

The duelling pistol is a survival of the old horse 
pistol in balance and form of stock, and this has 
never been improved on. 

Most things undergo constant improvement, 
but the pistol stock, on the contrary, has steadily 
deteriorated. 

The old horse pistol balanced just right, and the 
long light barrel was counterpoised by the heavy 
stock. 

The angle was right, and the sights fitted close 
down to the barrel. In some cases there was no 
back sight but aim was taken as with a shotgun. 

The perfect balance almost did away with the 
need of a back sight. 

80 



How to Hold the Pistol 81 

Then the revolver came with its front over- 
balance, which often needed, on its short upright 
stock, a grip with the little finger under the butt 
to steady it. 

As I explained in my Art of Revolver Shooting, it 
was necessary to get the line of the arm as nearly 
possible in line with the barrel, consequently 
the thumb also had to be extended in line with 
the barrel. 

This was possible with the old "break down" 
action revolvers, but when solid-frame revolvers 
were made to withstand the stronger pressure of 
the nitro powders, the extractor opening lever had 
to be put in the way of this thumb extension, so 
that the thumb was crooked to avoid the nail 
being split by the recoil, or the catch opened by 
the thumb striking it from the recoil. 

The proper way to hold the duelling pistol is not 
very high up the grip, because if the hold is taken 
so high up as to make the barrel in line with the 
arm, the back sight is hidden by the hand. 

This lower hold is not a disadvantage, as the 
obtuse slope of the handle and the perfect balance 
of the pistol have no tendency to drop the muzzle. 

The thumb is curved downwards just enough to 
get the best grip. 

The duelling pistol has a spur at the near end 
of the trigger guard, which some shooters £>ut their 
second finger round (see Plate 6) . I find that this 
only gives one a clumsy handful and that it is 
better to have the second finger with the others 



82 



The Modern Pistol 



together round the stock, and close under the back 
of the trigger guard. 

I am sorry to find that some still cling to the 
absurd practice of using the second finger to press 




PLATE 5. HOW TO HOLD THE DUELLING PISTOL (i) 



the trigger, holding the first finger along the pistol. 

There is nothing to recommend this and every- 
thing to condemn it, and I have never seen it used 
by a good shot. 

It is only a fashion, like the new one of jerking 
the elbow out at right angles to look at the wrist 



How to Hold the Pistol 83 

watch, or turning up the collar, and the bottom of 
the trousers, on a hot dry day. 

Using the second finger for the trigger deprives 
the hand of a third of its grip on the stock. It 



PLATE 6. HOW TO HOLD THE DUELLING PISTOL WITH SPUR (2) 

employs a less sensitive finger for the trigger, as 
the first finger is always used for sensitive work, 
the second being only a gripper. Moreover, the 
first finger, if extended along the barrel when shoot- 
ing an automatic, not only gets burnt and cut, as it 
lies along where the spent cartridge cases and 



84 The Modern Pistol 

powder gases escape, but it is apt to get jammed 
into this opening and stop the action of the pistol. 

I shot an automatic pistol alternately with 
another man, which jammed when my companion 
shot it but not with me. I found he kept getting 
his first finger into the mechanism, as he was using 
his second for the trigger. 

Now as to holding the stock of an automatic 
pistol. The United States Regulation Colt .45 
Automatic has the best grip of any, and one can 
hold it, as I have advised for the duelling pistol, 
right up hard against the projection over which 
the recoil slide operates. 

The smaller Civilian and Police Colt have not 
quite as good a stock, rather more upright; the 
same applies to the Savage and the Smith & 
Wesson. 

The German Military Regulation Automatic 
has a nice stock but it is rather too thick. It is 
well balanced and at the proper angle. 

The "Hammer Head" stock attachment to the 
barrel of some automatic pistols I find most 
awkward to hold, and impossible to get a sense of 
direction with. One finds oneself far below the 
object one wants to hit and the muzzle has to be 
canted up with a most wrist-spraining movement. 
The recoil comes on the wrist at the same angle 
as if you put the first joints of your fingers on a 
table, and the palm of your hand against a leg of 
the table whilst keeping the arm horizontal. 

I can neither hold nor shoot in this position; 



How to Hold the Pistol 85 

it is all so awkward. If a man lowers his head, 
he can look along the sights, but if he keeps his 
head up as he should and does in shooting any 
other pistol, it is very difficult to align the sights 
except by bending the arm and raising the elbow. 
In any case I cannot shoot with such a stock, so 
can give no instruction in its use. 

In a later chapter I will give my ideas of what 
should be altered in automatic pistols from a 
shooter's point of view; the "Hammer Head" or 
"right-angle" stocks being one of these. 

Not knowing how to hold and shoot a pistol, 
has given rise to all those inventions of a portable 
rifle stock to fit on a pistol, so that the pistol can be 
shot like a rifle. 

To begin with, such a stock puts the sights too 
close to the eyes, the noise is deafening and the 
accuracy very bad, compared with holding the 
same pistol at arm's length as it should be held. 
It is merely the attempt to try and hold it steady 
by men who cannot shoot a pistol. 

A moment's thought will show that, unless a 
man is as near-sighted as an owl in daylight, he 
cannot shoot with the back sight resting on his 
nose. 

A pistol fitted with a rifle stock must be used 
with great caution. You are apt to put the fingers 
of your left hand over the muzzle, as the end of 
the muzzle comes just where one puts one's hand 
with the fingers round the fore end, to steady a 
rifle or shotgun. 



CHAPTER XVI 

RUNNING SHOTS 

The pistol being meant for use at close range 
at objects one sees only for a moment, or which 
are in rapid motion, I do not advise getting too 
much into the habit of taking long, deliberate aim 
at stationary targets. 

When you can handle the pistol with safety to 
others and yourself, it is better to begin to learn 
shooting rapidly and at moving objects. 

I think it is well to begin to shoot at moving 
objects at first, instead of rapid shooting. You 
can begin at slowly moving objects, which does not 
hurry and flustrate you as shooting against time 
may do. 

Above all do not attempt to shoot as many 
people tell you to. 

The greatest bar to shooting at moving objects 
with the rifle or pistol is the way most men shoot 
at them. 

What they do is to aim at a spot and shoot 
when the object arrives there. Shotgun men do 
not make this mistake, but men used only to lying 
on their faces like a squashed frog in rifle shoot- 
ing invariably do. 



Running Shots 87 

Wherever you go to a rifle meeting where there 
is a competition at a moving target, "running 
Deer," "Running Man" or "Gliding Man," etc., 
it is always the same. 

A few men shoot as they ought to, and win all 
the prizes. The bulk of the competitors lie on 
their faces, as they were taught to do at stationary 
targets, take a deliberate aim at a spot on the 
background, and wait till the target gets opposite 
their aim. 

Then — boom — the dust flies up where the target 
was a moment before, but it is now — elsewhere. 

It is as if you tried to catch a fly by putting a 
finger on him when he is on the table-cloth. You 
will put it where he was, not where he is. 

The correct principle (the one with which I won 
the Rifle Running-Deer World's Championship at 
the Olympic Games in 1908) is to treat the rifle or 
pistol exactly as if it were a shotgun. 

Assuming you are not familiar with shotgun 
shooting, get a man who is a good shot with the 
shotgun to coach you, when practising with the 
pistol at moving objects. 

If you are a shotgun man you do not need to 
be told what follows. 

At a stationary target, however rapidly you 
are shooting, you try to hit that object. 

In shooting at moving targets you try to make 
two moving objects (the target and the bullet) 
meet. 

The target is moving. The bullet also takes 



88 The Modern Pistol 

time to get where the target will be. You have to 
get the bullet to arrive simultaneously with the 
target at the same spot. 

If you aim at the object, the bullet will arrive 
at the spot after the object has gone further on. 

To give an illustration : 

An illustrated paper showed an engraving of a 
man on a motor bicycle going at fifty miles an 
hour, at six hundred yards' distance. 

There was a cross made on the man's chest 
which, it was explained, was the spot to aim at in 
order to hit him. 

If the rifle were correctly aimed for this cross, a 
man could shoot millions of shots and never hit 
the motor-cyclist. 

The bullets would reach the spot where the 
motorist was a moment before, but he would be 
yards further on when the bullet arrived. 

Now the way to overcome this missing behind 
is to "swing" and "time." These are shotgun 
men's terms, never used or understood by pistol or 
rifle shots, and this is the reason so few riflemen 
can hit moving targets, and chase them with the 
bayonets instead. 

Suppose you have a shotgun in your hands and 
a pheasant comes flying across you. The thing is 
to hit him in the neck with the centre of the charge 
so as to make a clean kill without a flutter in mid- 
air — "neck him, " as we call it. 

Most men try to shoot without moving their 
position and so hamper and cramp themselves 



Running Shots 89 

unnecessarily by having to twist the body if the 
bird is passing them at an awkward angle. 

Turn like a soldier does in "right about face" to 
either side, so that the bird gives you the easiest 
crossing shot. Whilst doing so, follow an imagin- 
ary point in front of his head with your eyes, the 
distance in front varying with the bird's speed and 
distance from you. Whilst doing so bring up your 
gun (not looking at the gun), the gun swinging as 
your body swings in the direction the bird is 
travelling. As the gun comes to your shoulder 
press the trigger. 

If you look at the bird, you will shoot at the bird, 
and consequently shoot behind where he was at 
the moment the trigger was pulled. If the bird 
was forty yards off you will have missed clean 
behind him. 

If nearer, owing to the shot spreading over a 
thirty -inch circle, you may have hit him far back in 
the body, what is called "tailored him," and he 
will go off and die a lingering death. 

If you shoot forward enough, you will either 
kill him clean or miss him clean (a miss in front). 

That is the great thing. If it must be a miss 
let it be a clean miss, in front. Not shooting far 
enough forward is the chief cruelty in shooting — 
wounded animals going off to die in agony. 

Always remember this when shooting at animals 
and birds. The forward end is the vital end; 
hitting it causes sudden, painless death, so swing 
far enough forward. 



90 The Modern Pistol 

To hit bird after bird, animal after animal, too 
far back, as one sees some men do, to an accom- 
paniment of screams of hares and rabbits, and 
fluttering birds, is disgusting. 

If you shoot well forward, none of this happens. 
You may not have so much game down, but each 
one of them drops stone dead without a sound. 
There is no calling out, "Bring a dog, I have a 
'runner.'" 

I think it would be as well, before trying moving 
shots with a pistol, to do a little shotgun shooting 
at clay pigeons, so as to get into the idea of swing 
and timing, if you are not a shotgun shot already. 

When you can swing your gun to an imaginary 
spot, in front of a moving object and press the 
trigger at the moment the sights are aligned, with- 
out stopping your swing, you can shoot the pistol 
with success at moving objects, provided you treat 
it exactly as if you were using a. shotgun. 

Have a moderately large object which the bullet 
will either break or leave a visible hole through, 
arranged to pass you at a slow speed. 

It can either be dragged by a long string, run 
on a trolley (the trolley shielded behind a bank 
so that a bullet could not strike it) or some other 
slowly moving target. 

A swinging object is of no use. It makes a 
difficult curve to follow, for the beginner, and its 
passage lasts too short a time. 

A swinging object also makes the shooter try 
the objectionable method of waiting and aiming 



Running Shots 91 

at the spot the object swings to, which I want 
to avoid. 

If your target travels slowly enough, and is 
large enough, and at only some twelve yards' 
distance, there will be no necessity to aim in front 
of it. Its forward edge is far enough. 

Fix your eyes on the front part of the target. 
As it traverses bring your pistol up without look- 
ing at the pistol, as it comes level with your eye 
and the sights get aligned. Keep on swinging 
your body and pistol and press the trigger, while 
still swinging. 



CHAPTER XVII 
running shots {Continued) 

It is best to stand with the feet slightly apart 
and facing rather where the object is going to, 
than from where it comes, as your shot will go off 
towards the end of its run. 

At first bring up the pistol very slowly, and 
swing with the object for a moment after your 
sights get on it. Do not first aim at it and then 
move in front of it. 

Gradually come quicker and try to fire the 
instant your pistol comes up. 

Speed in coming up does not help you. Most 
men come up in such a hurry that they wobble 
all over the place. Save time by firing the instant 
your sights are aligned, not in bringing up your arm. 

Start slowly, increasing your speed as you raise 
your arm, not in abrupt jerky movements like the 
English Military salute. 

Do not raise it with a jerk. It spoils your aim. 
A good engine driver starts the train so that you 
do not feel the start. That is the idea for raising 
the pistol. The faster the object is moving the 
faster, as a rule, the arm has to be raised. 
92 



Running Shots 93 

But if the object is coming from a distance, and 
will be in sight for some distance as it passes, this 
rule does not apply. 

You can take your time raising your arm, only 
your following swing must be fast and of course 
your "allowance" in front of the object greater 
than at slower moving objects. 

As you get proficient, increase the distance you 
stand from your target and increase its speed. 

It is a mistake to have a small target for practis- 
ing. When you miss you cannot see if you have 
missed behind or in front, and you get to dwelling 
on your aim. 

As to the distance to aim in front, that is a 
matter of experience and, other things being 
equal, the man who has this experience can beat 
another shot who can hold closer on a stationary 
object, but does not know how far to aim in front 
of a moving one, or how to swing and time. 

The difference between shooting at an upright 
man moving and an animal is that, in the former 
case, the most important thing is to judge the 
proper distance to aim in front ; in the latter case, 
to keep one's elevation so as not to miss over or 
under. 

When shooting at a running man target, the 
man being narrow, one is very apt to miss just 
behind the back. 

At a running deer one cannot, if at all a decent 
shot, miss him behind his tail (though one may 
miss past his chest in trying to shoot forward 



94 The Modern Pistol 

enough), but it is easy to miss over his withers, or 
under his brisket. 

Keep on practising at moving objects, varying 
the distance and speed constantly, and the direc- 
tion from right to left and left to right, till you can 
judge how far in front you must shoot for each 
case. 

It is best to always use the same pistol and 
charge. If you use at one time a .22 pistol and 
then the .44 duelling pistol, you will get confused, 
as the .22 goes up much faster and consequently 
needs less allowance in front of the target. 

As long as you keep to the same pistol, you need 
not mind how slowly the bullet goes up. You 
know how much to aim in front but, if at one time 
you must aim an inch in front and next time four 
inches for the same speed, you can never learn to 
judge where to aim. 

The various rifles I have used at the Running 
Deer at Bisley since the early days vary in allow- 
ance in front from four feet down to merely aiming 
at the point of the shoulder. 

The faster the bullet goes, the easier it is to 
judge how far you must aim in front at moving 
objects, but here comes in the inevitable "com- 
promise." 

The faster the bullet goes, the more force it 
needs to propel it, which means more recoil and 
shock to the shooter. 

You have to make a compromise. If you are 
strong and have good nerves, and don't take 



Running Shots 95 

alcohol or smoke, you can stand a strong recoil 
without its spoiling your shooting. If you are 
not strong, it is better to have to aim further in 
front and save your nerves, by using a lighter 
load. 

I am not speaking from theory but from experi- 
ence. I have specialized and made record scores 
on the "Running Deer" at the National Rifle 
Association of England's Meeting since I was a 
small boy. 

-When I first began, an older man shot a very 
light charge and kept winning, although he had to 
aim an enormous distance in front of the ' ' deer ' ' to 
make up for the slow speed of his bullet. But, as 
there was little noise and no recoil to worry his 
nerves, he put up wonderfully good scores. 

I, knowing no better, tried to get my bullet 
up quickly by shooting a tremendously big charge. 
The bullet went up quickly but the recoil nearly 
knocked me down, and in consequence my shooting 
was very erratic. 

I have since experimented from very small 
charges up to the heaviest, having a velocity of 
over three thousand feet a second. 

The year I won the World's Championship at 
the Olympic Games, I had arrived at a "com- 
promise" between speed of bullet and recoil, which 
enabled me to win, but since then I have yet a still 
better compromise, which enables me to make 
highest possible scores. 

Formerly, in revolvers and pistols, one had 



9 6 



The Modern Pistol 



to bear the full recoil. Now, automatic pistols, 
which utilize part of the recoil to operate opening, 
loading, ejection, and reclosing, have less recoil 
when shooting heavier charges than revolvers 
did. 

The automatic pistol has a softer recoil than 
a pistol or especially a revolver, owing to this 
absorption of recoil. 

It is more of a push, less of a blow. 

Therefore, when you have found the heaviest 
load you can stand in a single-shot pistol, you will 
find you can use a heavier cartridge in an auto- 
matic pistol, without any more discomfort. 

You will therefore not have to aim so far in 
front with an automatic pistol when shooting at 
moving objects, and not have to take so high an 
aim at distance objects to allow for the drop of the 
bullet — as with a revolver. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

SHOOTING AN AUTOMATIC PISTOL 

Before everything else, be sure you have the 
right cartridges for the pistol you are using. If 
you have too strong a cartridge you may have 
a fatal accident. If too weak a cartridge the 
mechanism will not operate. A weaker cartridge 
than that for which the pistol is made will prevent 
its working properly or, in fact, working at all, 
unless the closing is assisted by the hand, and then 
it ceases to be an automatic pistol. 

It is best to begin practising single loading. 
The best way to do this is through the magazine so 
as to get familiar with the magazine. Take out 
the magazine, put in only one cartridge, put back 
the magazine, and operate the slide. The pistol is 
now a single loader, ready to shoot. 

Do your shooting a few times like this, till you 
get used to the pistol. 

You will find the recoil different from that of a 
single-shot pistol or a revolver. 

Instead of the recoil coming back directly on 
you it will be softened and, even with the best of 
automatics, the pistol will have a tendency to 
7 97 



98 The Modern Pistol 

wriggle and ' ' tap, ' ' not recoil back in one clean 
kick. 

When practising, make a point of putting the 
safety bolt on and off, using this safety bolt as 
you would in putting a single-shot pistol to half- 
cock. 

There is this difference. Whereas, in English 
makes of guns and sporting rifles, the safety bolt 
puts the weapon automatically at safe each time 
it is reloaded, having to be taken off before each 
shot can be fired. Military firearms are only at 
safe when the safety bolt is purposely put on 
with the thumb. 

The usual automatic pistol is made on the 
military idea. The safety once off, it remains 
off till the user puts it back at safety, no matter 
how many shots he has fired in the meantime. 

The Colt automatic pistol, like the Smith & 
Wesson hammerless safety pocket revolver, rem- 
edies this defect by having a second safety which 
makes the pistol safe, even if the first safety slide 
is not at safe. This consists of a lever at the back 
of the stock which is at safe till the hand presses 
it in firing and which keeps the weapon safe till 
the stock is gripped in actual firing. 

Any one who is a pistol shot grips the stock 
instinctively when shooting, but I have known 
men unused to firearms, unable to shoot a pistol 
having this safety grip, as they pull the trigger 
without squeezing the stock. 

I was asked to give expert opinion as to whether 



Shooting an Automatic Pistol 99 

a good revolver-shot had shot a man accidentally 
or on purpose. 

The pistol he used was a Smith & Wesson ham- 
merless safety pocket pistol. 

The contention was that a man trying to drag 
the pistol from his hand had caused it to go off 
accidentally. I said that with an ordinary revol- 
ver, if the man had his finger on the trigger at the 
time, it was very probable the pistol would be 
discharged accidentally, but that the man would 
not be likely to do so with a Smith & Wesson safety 
pocket pistol. To test it we experimented, and 
besides not being able to make me fire the pistol 
(empty of course), when we reversed matters, my 
questioner, although he tried his utmost, could not 
fire the pistol whilst I pulled at it. 

The holder pulls against the front of the stock to 
avoid its being taken from his hand, he does not 
squeeze the back of it. The result is that the pistol 
cannot be discharged, except by a voluntary effort. 
He can pull the trigger as much as he likes, but as 
long as he does not grip, but merely uses the front 
of the stock as a handle to pull against his adver- 
sary, the pistol is safe against accidental discharge. 

When you have got accustomed to the auto- 
matic pistol as a single loader, fill the magazine 
and use it as an automatic. 

For continual rapid-firing, that is one loaded 
magazine after another, do not shoot off the last 
cartridge of a magazine before inserting a fresh 
one. Otherwise it necessitates dragging back the 



ioo The Modern Pistol 

slide with both hands after each fresh clip is 
inserted and wastes time. 

Most automatic pistols remain open after the 
last shot has been fired, a most necessary thing, 
as otherwise you never know if your pistol has 
another shot available or is empty. 

To do continuous firing shoot all but one cart- 
ridge of the clip load, press the stop, and drop the 
empty clip. The loaded clip, held in the other 
hand, is inserted into the butt and shooting can at 
once be resumed. The last cartridge left in the 
barrel, from the first clip, when fired, brings up the 
first cartridge of the new clip and so on, inde- 
finitely. 

You will find slightly different problems to over- 
come as compared with the single-shot pistol or 
revolver. 

Rapid-firing is incomparably easier than with 
a revolver. There is not only gain of time and no 
fatigue of the trigger finger or thumb from cocking, 
but also the hold of the stock does not have to be 
changed. It is merely a matter of aligning and 
pressing. The recoil is also deadened and much 
less severe. 

You will find a tendency for your shots to be 
strung out vertically, owing to varying escape of 
gas at the breech. 

You will find lateral variation is much less than 
with a revolver, the bullet going from the barrel 
of the automatic, not jumping into it from a 
cylinder, thus tending to accuracy. 



Shooting an Automatic Pistol 101 

The vertical variation is more than from a 
revolver, and this vertical deviation is absent from 
a good single-shot pistol. 

When shooting an automatic pistol do not be 
discouraged if your shots are not so good vertically 
but strung out. It is not your fault but that of 
the pistol, and you cannot correct this by your 
shooting. 

Later I will give special practice for automatic 
pistols, but if you are a good shot with the single- 
shot pistol or revolver, you will have no difficulty 
in shooting the automatic pistol well, as soon as 
you have got used to its characteristics. 

I used to think the occasional very low shots 
were due to dropping the muzzle in pulling, but I 
find it is not this. It is caused by an occasional 
escape of gas greater than normal at the breach of 
the automatic pistol, causing the bullet to have a 
weaker flight and therefore striking lower. 



CHAPTER XIX 



TIMING APPARATUS 



In order to improve our speed in shooting, it is 
important to have a mechanical timing apparatus. 

Trying to judge speed by counting or getting 
someone else to count half -seconds is very unreli- 
able. Where everything depends upon making 
your last shot a good one the counting is bound to 
become slower, in the anxiety not to spoil a good 
score. 

With a mechanical timer there is no relenting, 
it is Fate, and if you cannot make a good shot in 
time, your score is spoiled. This trains you pro- 
perly; you are not buoyed up by false ideas of your 
skill which, when there is real timing, will prove 
that your ideas of your skill are vain delusions. 

In England a clock is used, marking seconds 
or half-seconds. 

This is very good for the man who works the 
targets ; he sees if he is working the time right, but 
it does not assist the shooter as he does not hear the 
time being struck. 

For the learner, it is important that he should 
be able to apportion his time, take so long for 



Timing Apparatus 103 

* 

lifting his arm, so long for aiming, etc., so as 
to learn how to do the best shooting in the time 
limit allowed, and judge accordingly. 

For this purpose there is nothing better than 
the metronome. 

The metronome is used by music teachers for 
instructing their pupils in the right time when 
playing. 

Music for instruction is marked with the metro- 
nome beat proper to it : all that has to be done is 
to wind up the metronome, set it to that number, 
and start it beating. 

A metronome consists of a pyramidical box 
with clockwork, which makes an upright pendulum 
beat at whatever speed it is set. 

The speed depends on a weight which is moved 
up and down the rod, to set marks, which corre- 
spond to numbers engraved on the sides. 

It is, in fact, a clock pendulum reversed. 

The more elaborate ones have a bell attachment 
which strikes after any desired number of beats 
of the pendulum. If you want to practise three 
minutes' exposure of target, you set the metronome 
at half -second beats (120 to the minute) and the 
ball to strike at every sixth beat. 

Accuracy of course depends for what purpose 
you are practising, but to be able to hit an object 
a foot in diameter, at ten yards' distance instantly, 
is ample, for self-defence. 



CHAPTER XX 



SNAP SHOOTING 



When you have become fairly proficient at 
hitting moving objects, you will be able, with a 
little practice, to soon pick up the knack of snap 
shooting. 

By snap shooting I do not mean the sort of 
competition where you are given three-seconds 
intervals. That is merely /'fast deliberate aim," 
in fact is as slow as allowable for practical shooting, 
slower is mere target shooting. 

Snap shooting is when the pistol is fired the in- 
stant it is levelled without any dwelling on the aim. 

Use a big target, at ten or twelve yards. 

Keep your head up, eyes fixed on the target. 

As you raise your pistol, begin squeezing and 
let the pistol off as it comes horizontal. 

With practice you can put all your shots close 
together. It is the most mechanical of all pistol 
shooting. 

You get to putting shot after shot in the same 
place like throwing marbles into a hat. 

You can test how mechanical it becomes for 
yourself. 

104 



Snap Shooting 105 

After putting a dozen shots close together, try to 
put a dozen shots a foot higher on the target. 

You will find yourself all at sea, and will have to 
begin aiming. Then you get so mechanical you 
will find it difficult to hit a foot lower, which you 
found so easy before. 

Your arm has got so used to lifting to a certain 
position, your trigger finger to squeeze when the 
arm is raised to exactly the same position, that 
the whole thing becomes as mechanical and sub- 
conscious as swinging your arms and legs as you 
walk. 

Your arms swing to exactly the same spot each 
time. Try to take longer or shorter steps, and to 
swing your arms further or less far, and you will see 
how mechanical your ordinary walk is. 

If you want to win a prize for snap shooting, you 
can, by practising constantly under identical con- 
ditions of distance, shape, colour, height of target, 
and lighting, get so mechanical that it takes an 
effort not to hit the same spot continually. 

For this reason, to learn snap shooting, not 
merely forming a habit, it is best to constantly 
vary the height of the target you shoot at, or try 
to hit various parts alternately. 

Get someone (if you are shooting at a man 
target) to call out "head" at the first beat of the 
metronome (beating at 120 to the minute), and 
try to hit the head before the next beat of the 
metronome. 

Then he will call "feet " and it is ten to one that 



106 The Modern Pistol 

you will swing too high ; or if it was "feet " first you 
will not be able to get as high as the "head" next 
time. 

You can put in your shots at great speed if it 
is always to the same spot, but if you have to vary 
and do not know where you are to hit, till you get 
the word to go, it is impossible to shoot quite so 
fast accurately. 

For this reason it is well not to think one has 
mastered snap shooting when one has got into the 
knack of putting all one's shots on the same spot. 

Snap shooting and shooting at moving objects, 
are the two sorts of shooting of real use. 

Shooting long shots (which I will treat of next) 
may be useful at times, but deliberate shooting at 
minute bull's-eyes is only useful for winning prizes 
and getting a reputation for being a "Crack Revol- 
ver-Shot." 

My world's record snap-shooting score was 
published in the newspapers with the words under 
it — "This is the highest at present, but it will, 
of course, soon be beaten." 

Naturally, it was not as pretty a group as the 
target published next to it, which had been shot 
with deliberate aim, but this latter score has been 
equalled dozens of times. While my rapid-fire 
score is unbeaten (Appendix 10 and n). The 
value of a score can only be judged if the con- 
ditions it was shot under are known. 

If you want to be thought a good shot by the 
public, leave rapid, snap, and moving object 



Snap Shooting 107 

shooting alone, otherwise your best scores will look 
so bad beside those of the man who aims, lowers 
his pistol, aims again, wipes his hands, and after 
half an hour of these antics, scores a bull's-eye. 



CHAPTER XXI 



LONG RANGE SHOOTING 



The moment the bullet leaves the muzzle of 
the pistol, it begins to fall, owing to the force of 
gravity. 

The faster it is going the further it goes before 
this drop is sufficient to be noticeable. Gravity 
acts through time, so if a bullet goes twice as fast 
as another, it goes twice as far before it has dropped 
the same distance as the slower bullet. 

The big bullet of the duelling pistol has more air 
resistance than the .22 bullet of the American 
pistols, also it has comparatively a much smaller 
charge, so it begins to drop more rapidly and at 
shorter range. 

The duelling pistol is sighted for twenty-five 
metres as that is the duelling distance (twenty- 
seven yards, three inches). 

It hits where you aim, therefore, at that dis- 
tance, it shoots practically the same at the nearer 
distances. 

Beyond the twenty-five metres, however, it 
begins to drop very rapidly. I have watched 
where the bullet strikes when the man target is 



Long Range Shooting 109 

missed in an open field. The bullet strikes the 
ground less than a hundred yards off, showing that 
it has dropped the height of a man's shoulder 
(say over four feet). 

The .22 hits the ground nearly two hundred 
yards off under similar circumstances. 

I had exceptional opportunities to watch this, as 
my man target stood out in an open park, where 
there was no necessity to have a butt behind it. 

As it is not usual to shoot a duelling pistol 
beyond twenty-five yards, or a .22 pistol beyond 
fifty yards, there is no necessity to make any 
alteration in the sighting at that distance, but if 
extreme accuracy is desired at any one distance 
the hind sight can be filed for that special distance. 

The automatic, however, has a very powerful 
cartridge which shoots accurately several hundred 
yards. 

Now the way I use my "big game " rifle .is : when 
at a distance at which the drop of the bullet would 
make it fall below the body of the game when I 
aim at it, I judge how much I must aim above 
and shoot accordingly. 

The advantage of this is that you are ready at 
any moment to shoot. If the animal is close and 
therefore dangerous, you can aim straight at him. 
If he is far you aim above him. 

If he suddenly comes close you merely have to 
aim at him. This is the principle on which the 
United States Army Automatic is sighted, one 
immovable back sight. 



no 



The Modern Pistol 



Most rifles and some automatic pistols are 
sighted differently. 

They have leaves or other adjustments to the 
back sight, so that if you want to shoot at long 
range you estimate the distance, look at the hind 
sight which is marked in distances, and either 
raise the leaf marked for that distance, or else 
slide or screw up the back sight for that distance. 

This is all very pretty theoretically, or for 
deliberate target shooting, but in practice it is 
dangerous. 

As an instance, you are out shooting, and see a 
stag 250 yards off, as you estimate. 

You fix the back sight of your rifle for that 
distance, and begin taking a careful aim. 

At that moment there is a grunt, you look up 
and there is an old wild boar (a solitaire, very 
savage) charging at you from twenty yards off. 

If you fire at him with your 250 yards' sight up, 
you miss him and he has you. But if you are 
shooting on my principle with a fixed sight for close 
range, you would be aiming two feet above the 
stag when the boar started charging, and all 
you would have to do is to shoot at the boar's 
chest, and he would drop and you could then fire 
at the stag, as he galloped off. 

A leaf of the back sight may get put up acciden- 
tally, and you do not notice this when firing at 
short range. 

The chief danger is from an enemy near you. 
You ought to have your sights right for him, the 



Long Range Shooting in 

distant one is not so important to hit, if you forget 
to aim high for him. 

How often soldiers are told to put up their 
sights for a thousand yards' range, and then have 
to start shooting at a close enemy and forget to 
alter their sights. 

My advice is to have nothing to do with eleva- 
ting back sights. 

As the duelling pistol has such an extreme drop, 
it will accustom you, if you shoot it at various 
distances, to aim high or low according to the 
distance. 

When you come to the automatic you will find, 
except for very exceptionally long shots, you need 
not alter your elevation of aim at all; it shoots 
practically straight up to the furthest you are 
likely ever to have to use it. 

Less than forty yards and generally at a few 
feet off is the range for pistols in actual combat. 

The further the object shot at, the more accu- 
rate the aim must be to hit it. 

It is difficult to do snap shooting with a pistol 
at one hundred yards, though one can do very ac- 
curate snap shooting with a rifle at that distance. 

The reason is that the rifle has a longer barrel, so 
that a slight fault in the alignment does not so 
much matter, but with the short barrel of a pistol 
a hundredth of an inch wrong in the sighting, 
at one hundred yards, makes over twelve inches 
error where the bullet strikes. 

In other words, an error of a hundredth of an 



ii2 The Modern Pistol 

inch in alignment in an automatic pistol at one 
hundred yards, would make the pistol miss a target 
twelve and a half inches in diameter, whereas a 
rifle at the same distance with the same error of 
alignment would graze the edge of a target two 
and a half inches in diameter. 

The pistol is more than four times more difficult 
to shoot than the rifle atone hundred yards, owing 
to its short barrel magnifying the error nearly four 
to five times more than the long barrel of the rifle. 

To compare a pistol with a rifle target at one 
hundred yards, the rifle target bull's-eye would 
have to be reduced to a fifth of its diameter, leaving 
the bullet holes where they are, or vice versa, the 
pistol target bull's-eye would have to be magni- 
fied five diameters, leaving the bullet holes where 
they are. 

This means that in shooting a match at a hund- 
red yards, the rifle would have to be given a 
bull's-eye a fifth the diameter of the pistol target, 
the outside rings of the target in proportion, or 
the pistol must shoot at twenty yards, against the 
rifle at one hundred, both having bull's-eyes the 
same size. 

This confirms my experience that to hit a foot 
diameter bull's-eye with a pistol at a hundred 
yards, is about as difficult as to hit a two and a 
half inch bull's-eye at the same distance with a 
rifle. Of course standing position is meant. With 
the prone position for the rifle it is too great a 
handicap on the pistol. 



CHAPTER XXII 



THE AUTOMATIC PISTOL 



Now that the pupil has learned how to handle 
the single- shot pistol with safety to himself and 
others, he can be trusted to learn how to shoot the 
automatic pistol. (See Plates 7 and 13.) 

Before giving such instruction, it is necessary 
to explain what an automatic pistol is, and in what 
it differs from a single-shot pistol. 

The first pistol, as the first rifle, was naturally 
a single-shot one. . 

The pistol and rifle both proceeded in develop- 
ment along the same lines. 

First the match-lock, wheel-lock, flint-lock, per- 
cussion lock. Then through muzzle-loader to rim 
fire, pin fire, to central fire breechloader, hammer, 
hammerless, and ejector. 

The double barrel, and multi-barrel, and from 
smooth-bore to rifled bore, were evolved at the 
same time. 

Here the pistol and rifle parted company slightly ; 
though the principle was the same in each case, it 
was differently applied. 

The rifle became a magazine loader, and it will 
s 113 



ii4 The Modern Pistol 

next be an automatic loader (though at present 
automatic loading is principally used in machine 
guns and low-power rifles) . 

The pistol, instead of becoming a magazine 
loader (in the sense of being loaded by cartridges 
brought up from a magazine by operating a bolt), 
became a revolver — that is, the cartridges were 
fired out of the magazine instead of being first in- 
serted into the barrel from a magazine. 

When cartridges are inserted into the barrel, 
there is no escape of gas at the breech when they 
are fired, but when fired out of the cylinder of a 
revolver, there is an escape of gas at the juncture 
of the cylinder and barrel, which varies, and when 
such escape of gas occurs it causes weak and low 
shots. 

The cylinder cannot be made gas tight, as that 
would prevent its revolving, or coincide absolutely 
with the calibre of the barrel, consequently a re- 
volver can never be as accurate as a single-shot 
pistol. 

This defect in the revolver was its weak point 
in comparison with the magazine-loading rifle. 

Just before the war, I shot two makes of military 
full- charge automatic rifles, which were very good, 
but the war has put an end to their development 
for the present. Undoubtedly the rifle of the 
future will be an automatic. 

The principle of an automatic firearm can be 
best explained by the analogy of the automobile. 

The revolver, which is a magazine pistol, can be 



The Automatic Pistol 115 

fired only after each cartridge is placed in position 
by the action of cocking the hammer with the 
thumb, or by double-action trigger pull. 

The internal combustion (the automobile engine) 
operates by the explosion operating the various 
parts. 

The explosion in the cylinder of the engine 
drives the piston rod forward, which turns the 
crank, which, turning the fly-wheel, drives the pis- 
ton rod back ready for the next explosion. 

In the automatic pistol, the recoil from the 
explosion drives the working part of the pistol back 
against a strong spring. As soon as the force of 
the explosion is spent, this spring forces the work- 
ing parts back into place again. These working 
parts do all the work the shooter does in a single- 
shot pistol — that is, it cocks the pistol, opens the 
breech, extracts the spent cartridge, inserts a fresh 
cartridge, and closes the breech. 

The idea is very simple, and has occurred to 
almost everyone who has handled a pistol or a 
rifle, but there are mechanical difficulties which are 
only just beginning to be overcome, and the auto- 
matic pistol, and still more the automatic rifle, 
are yet far from perfect. 

The chief difficulty is the force of the explosion. 
In a motor-car engine, the force of each explosion 
can be regulated so as to be just sufficient for the 
work required. 

In an automatic pistol this cannot be done. 
The force of the explosion is that which gives the 



n6 The Modern Pistol 

best shooting, in other words the greatest possible 
force, subject to the shooter being able to stand 
the recoil and the pistol not to burst, though 
made light enough to be easily handled. 

If a pistol were made a ton weight, it would fire 
a very much larger charge without bursting, but 
the charge of the explosion has to be limited to 
what a pistol of some two and a half pounds' weight 
can bear without bursting, or recoiling too severely 
on the shooter. 

The smaller pocket automatic pistols are lighter 
(the two-and-a-half pound ones are military 
pistols) . 

A pistol weighing under two and a half pounds 
can shoot only a small charge with light recoil, and 
so is easier to make. 

The heavy recoil from a military rifle (which 
gives the bullet a speed of some thirty thousand 
feet a second) would shatter the recoil mechanism 
of a small pocket pistol, though the latter can 
quite safely operate under the slight recoil of its 
weak cartridge. 

With a magazine rifle or revolver, the shooter 
uses just sufficient manual force to operate the 
mechanism, and even then pistols and rifles 
may get damaged by a clumsy man using too 
much force to wrench the weapon open or slam 
it shut. 

If, instead of the intelligently applied strength 
of a man, using the minimum force necessary, you 
substitute the smashing blow (several tons' weight 



The Automatic Pistol 117 

to the square inch) given by the force of gun- 
powder, to operate delicate mechanism, you can 
realize the difficulty the inventor has to contend 
with. 

It is as if you have to invent a firearm which 
would operate if, after each shot, you threw it 
under a passing railway train. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

THE MECHANISM OF THE AUTOMATIC PISTOL 

What the maker of the automatic pistol has to 
do is to restrain the sudden smashing blow of the 
explosion on his mechanism and have it operate 
gently. (See Plates 13 and 14.) 

The safety of the shooter depends greatly on 
the breech of the pistol not being opened till after the 
force of the explosion is spent. 

If the breech is opened before the force of the 
explosion is spent, it will drive the cartridge out 
like a bullet, and the pistol will in fact be shooting 
from both ends at the same time. 

Now will be seen why a very light-charge rifle 
or pistol is easier to be made a practical automatic 
firearm. 

With a very light charge, the explosive force is 
so light that, as long as it does not instantly blow 
the breech open (but retards it ever so slightly), 
there is no harm done. 

Rifles and pistols have long been made to shoot 
light charges that do not need the breech securely 
locked during the discharge, and are perfectly safe 
to use. 

118 



Mechanism of the Automatic Pistol 119 

The original automatic pistol operated as follows : 

The discharge drives the mechanism back against 
a spring at the same time that it blows open 
the breech, which the recoil spring then closes, 
inserting a fresh cartridge. The spent cartridge is 
blown with some force sideways out of a slot at 
the side of the mechanism, so that it may not 
hit the shooter in the face. 

In some makes of pistol, the cartridge is not 
blown out but merely dropped out. 

With a suitable charge the breech-closing mech- 
anism can be made heavy enough for its inertia 
to keep the breech closed sufficiently long after the 
discharge. 

When it comes to such heavy charges that it is 
necessary to keep the breech closed till the force 
of the explosion is spent, the difficulty of making a 
safe automatic firearm begins. 

With a military full-charge rifle this has hardly 
yet been arrived at, hence the delay in its being 
used for military purposes, but it seems as if the 
problem is on the point of being solved. 

For the comparatively weak recoil of a pistol, 
this does not apply. There are several perfectly 
safe pistols in use, and there is no danger in using 
any of the well-known makes. 

Some makes of automatic firearms, instead of 
using the recoil for operating che mechanism, have 
a small tube alongside the barrel, which communi- 
cates by a minute hole with the bore of the barrel 
near its muzzle. 



120 The Modern Pistol 

The breech does not open till the bullet is just 
passing out of the barrel, past the hole into the 
tube, and therefore the expansion of the gas of the 
explosion loses its force. 

A small fraction of this gas rushes through the 
hole into the tube and operates the mechanism. 

This has been the principle I have always 
worked on in trying to solve the problem of an 
automatic firearm. 

One system uses the recoil, tempered by a buffer, 
to modify its force. 

The other consists in diverting enough gas from 
the big explosion to operate the mechanism gently. 

It is conceivable that by this latter system it 
would be possible to convert the explosion of a 
siege cannon into a force just strong enough to 
break an egg, and that by two such divisions of the 
explosion, one would open the breech and the 
other close it, without the necessity of any anti- 
recoil mechanism at all on the principle of the slide 
valve of a locomotive steam engine. (My grand- 
father, Ross Winans, invented the locomotive slide 
valve, not Stevenson.) 

I think I am right in saying that this system has 
not yet been applied to automatic pistols, and that 
they all operate on the recoil, driven back by a 
compressed spring. 

A fault in every automatic pistol I have yet 
seen, is the difficulty of first loading it. 

The cartridges are carried in a clip, which is 
inserted in the butt of the pistol and drops out on 



Mechanism of the Automatic Pistol 121 

pressing a button. Most automatic pistols indi- 
cate when this magazine is empty and the pistol 
unloaded. 

This is very good, but what I complain of is 
that, after the magazine is full, you have to bring 
the first cartridge into the barrel by hand, after 
the first shot the cartridges are fed into the barrel 
and the empty ones ejected, automatically. 

When getting the first cartridge ready to fire in a 
revolver you accomplish it in cocking the pistol, 
and with a magazine rifle by working a bolt or 
lever. 

But with an automatic pistol, if the hands are 
wet, cold, greasy, or weak (as a soldier with blood 
on his hands and weak from a wound) , it is impossi- 
ble to get the first cartridge into the barrel, or get 
the pistol ready to shoot. 

The operation in automatic pistols begins by 
taking the pistol in both hands. (Compare with 
cocking the revolver with one hand.) 

Then you hold the stock firmly with one hand, 
and grip the slippery barrel of the pistol with the 
other hand, and use considerable force to draw 
the barrel back against the strong compression 
spring. 

Your only assistance to get a grip is a slight 
corrugation on the barrel, only wide enough for 
your thumb and forefinger to hold. 

Imagine trying to pull hard with only your fore- 
finger and thumb gripping a smooth and possibly 
slippery surface, with a cold, wet, or greasy hand. 



122 The Modern Pistol 

Let any one grease the automatic pistol and his 
hand and see if he can perform this operation. 
Sandow, no doubt, could do it, but not the aver- 
age man. 

The magazine rifle is purposely made with a bolt 
like a door bolt, so that it can be operated easily 
under all conditions, but the automatic pistol, 
evidently to give it a neat external appearance, 
has no projection to take hold ©f to drive back the 
slide, which, besides, takes more strength than is 
required to operate the bolt of a magazine rifle. 

The remedy is simple: have two small pro- 
jections, one on each side of the corrugated grip 
on the barrel, so that the shooter can get two 
fingers one over each side of this grip and, holding 
the stock in one hand, draw back the slide with his 
other hand, with a perfect grip under all conditions, 
like bending a crossbow. 

As to the shape and angle of the stock, inventors 
and shooters are at constant war. 

The inventor is thinking of his mechanism; he 
makes his stock at the best angle, shape, and size 
to suit what he puts inside it. It is much easier 
to construct apparatus to feed cartridges into the 
barrel at right angles than at an acute angle. 

Therefore, the inventor generally gives the 
shooter a stock unsuitable to do good shooting 
with. 

The inventor should work in combination with 
the shooter. The shape of the pistol externally 
should first be decided on by the shooter, so as to 



Mechanism of the Automatic Pistol 123 

be the best possible for shooting. In my opinion 
this should be the shape of the French duelling 
pistol of the Gastinne-Renette pattern. (Plates 
2 and 9.) 

The inventor should try to design his pistol to 
fit, as far as possible, into this external shape. 

Some points, as the distance of the trigger from 
the finger, and the slope and form of the butt, 
cannot be departed from without injury to accu- 
rate shooting and quick handling of the pistol, and 
yet these are the very things inventors alter. 

Other points the shooter may give way in, if such 
modifications are of vital importance from the 
inventor's point of view. 

The reverse procedure is, however, the rule. 
An inventor generally has no knowledge of shoot- 
ing, or horses, or whatever else his invention ap- 
plies to; he is merely a clever mechanic. He has 
"imagination" and theories. Generally, such 
theories are most grotesque and childish. 

I will instance an invention relating to horse- 
shoes. 

The inventor showed me a .sort of bird-cage of 
iron and said it was a horse-shoe. 

He informed me that shoeing horses as at pres- 
ent practised is wrong. "It is brutal to nail shoes 
onto horses' feet. How would you like to have 
an iron shoe nailed on the sole of your bare foot? " 

I tried to explain to him that the outer horn of a 
horse's foot has no feeling, that a horse is hurt only 
when the farrier is clumsy and drives a nail into 



124 The Modern Pistol 

the sensitive inner tissues of the foot, but he was 
too far absorbed in his theories to listen to me. 

He then went on to show me that his shoe needs 
no nailing on, that it has clamps, fastened by 
thumbscrews which clasp the horse's foot and grip 
it by claws "just below where the hair grows, 
to use his expression. 

I explained to him that this (the coronet) is the 
most sensitive part of the horse's foot, to press 
there would give him great pain and cause him 
to go lame, and finally his foot would die and 
drop off. 

Also, that these clamps and thumbscrews would 
strike the horse on the opposite fetlock and throw 
it down, and the centrifugal force would cause the 
shoes to fly off when the horse was going. 

Finally, that these shoes were hideously ugly 
and no horseman would care to be the laughing 
stock of everyone by taking his horse out with 
such things on. 

The inventor merely said: "All you horsemen 
are the same. You merely follow each other 
without any imagination," and he went out, to 
get the same reply from every horseman he met. 

He was firmly convinced that people who have 
to do with horses all their lives are fools and never 
think of what is best for the horse, but it rests 
with men like himself who have ' ' imagination ' ' to 
show us horsemen how to shoe and handle horses. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

PECULIARITIES AND FAULTS OF AUTOMATIC PISTOLS 

. Before purchasing an automatic pistol it would 
be well to try shooting several makes. Invent- 
ors have not yet arrived at anything like a stand- 
ard shape. The grip, angle of stock, distance of 
trigger, etc., all var}*, and you can decide what suits 
you best only by actual trial. 

Handling the unloaded pistol is not enough. I 
was once trying an automatic military rifle and 
found it balanced and handled very nicely. 

In order to test it in rapid fire I tried it against 
a magazine rifle to which I was accustomed. 

For merely "loosed off" it beat the magazine 
rifle, but I wished to try it for accuracy and speed 
combined. 

The test was to shoot at the "Running Deer" 
Bisley, to empty the magazine at one run of the 
deer. 

The deer runs at a speed of fifteen miles an hour 
during five and a half seconds at a distance of 
no yards from the firing point, across the line of 
fire. 

With my magazine rifle I got off five shots, 
125 



126 The Modern Pistol 

making four hits, wasting much time with the 
loading. 

With the automatic rifle there was not an instant 
wasted in the loading ; the difficulty was in getting 
the shots to go anywhere near the deer — in fact, 
I could not hit the deer, except with the first shot. 

At each shot the rifle tried to jump out of my 
hands, twisted itself round to the right and then 
suddenly twisted the other way. The tighter I 
gripped the more it wriggled about. 

Instead of the sights coming down back to 
alignment, after the recoil, I found they jumped 
clean off the deer and I had to go hunting about 
to get my aim again. 

Instead of, as with a well-balanced double rifle, 
the muzzle flying up at the first shot and dropping 
down into place for the second shot, there was no 
possibility of alignment without a fresh aim for 
each shot. 

It was just as if you have a strong unruly child 
in your arms trying to set him down on a chair. 

He wriggles from side to side, stiffens his back, 
and you cannot seat him on the chair. 

This is just how the rifle acted. It wriggled and 
struggled and refused to let itself be aligned on the 
target. 

The inventor also tried shooting it and missed 
even with his first shot. The fault lay in the way 
the recoil was taken up. 

To make an automatic rifle which will shoot 
accurately in rapid shooting, the recoil must be 



Peculiarities of Automatic Pistols 127 

straight back, not with a twist and wriggle from 
side to side. 

When choosing an automatic pistol, shoot it and 
find out if it lets you align your sights afresh 
immediately after you have fired. If you find it 
cants over or tries to go home into its holster at 
each shot, and you have to alter this cant before 
you can fire again, do not buy it. 

Get the gunmaker to instruct you thoroughly in 
the mechanism of any automatic you buy and 
especially what parts need special attention to 
prevent its jamming. 

Jamming is the constant bugbear to fight 
against. The automatic pistol must always be 
kept in perfect working order and the parts prop- 
erly cleaned and oiled. 

The barrel in some is difficult to properly clean 
internally, unless taken apart, and it is difficult to 
re-assemble. 

Unless all the parts work freely, a weak cartridge 
is apt to prevent the pistol closing properly. 

When you have learnt the mechanism from the 
gunmaker you can begin practising shooting with 
the pistol. 

The principal thing you have to remember is 
that, whereas a single-shot pistol, when you have 
taken out the cartridge, is unloaded and safe, and 
a revolver when you have emptied the cylinder 
is also unloaded and safe, when you have taken 
out the magazine with its cartridges from an 
automatic pistol, the pistol may still remain loaded. 



128 The Modern Pistol 

With the automatic pistol, when you have 
drawn back the slide and thereby loaded a cartridge 
into the barrel, that cartridge remains in still when 
you withdraw the clip full of cartridges. 

I give herewith a description of the Colt New 
Safety which obviates the danger of leaving a car- 
tridge inadvertently in the automatic pistol. 

"Figure I shows the pistol in cocked or firing 
position, magazine withdrawn and cartridge in 
barrel chamber. 

"Figure 2 indicates position of the magazine 
when inserted in handle of the pistol, and position 
of firing mechanism when safety-disconnector is 
forced forward by the inserted magazine. 

"When the magazine is removed (see Figure 1), 
the plunger acted upon by its spring forces the 
safety-disconnector to the rear. This movement 
forces the rear end of the connector (A) below the 
nose of the sear (B) so that should the trigger be 
pulled, the connection between trigger and sear 
being broken, that is, the rear end of the con- 
nector (A) being below the sear nose (B), the 
trigger cannot operate the sear, consequently no 
discharge of the piece can occur. 

"When the magazine is inserted into the handle 
of the pistol (see Figure 2), the curved top of the 
forward portion of the magazine forces the safety- 
disconnector forward and permits the rear end of 
the connector (A) to rise in front of the sear nose 
(B) in the normal position for firing. A pull on 
the trigger causes the sear to turn upon its pivot so 



Peculiarities of Automatic Pistols 129 

'that the firing pin is released and strikes the 
cartridge." 



SAFETY DISCONNECTOR 




FIGURE 2 
PLATE 7. COLT NEW SAFETY DISCONNECTOR AUTOMATIC 
PISTOL, .25 

The firing mechanism consists of the trigger with its connector 
which releases the sear; the sear which releases the firing pin when 
the trigger is pulled; the firing pin (there is no pivoted hammer 
in this model) , and the safety-disconnector with its plunger and 
spring. This disconnector is part of the calibre .25 only. 



To unload an automatic pistol, withdraw the clip of 
cartridges and then draw back the slide and extract 
the cartridge remaining in the barrel. 

Till this latter is done the pistol is still loaded 
and dangerous. 

The automatic pistol is a very delicate instru- 
ment and apt to go wrong at the most critical 
time. 



130 The Modern Pistol 

The revolver used to be grumbled at, but (if it 
did not fit too tightly) even when it jammed, it 
could be cocked and worked by using extra 
strength, opened by striking it over the thigh, etc. 

But an automatic cannot be forced, it must be 
operated with knowledge of exactly just what has 
gone wrong. 

Any one taking up automatic-pistol shooting 
seriously should go to a gunmaker and learn all 
about its mechanism so that he will know what is 
wrong when the pistol refuses to operate. 

Each make of automatic varies, so I cannot give 
elaborate instructions as to handling. Each make 
may have some point where it is simpler and 
superior to others though in other respects it may 
be inferior. 

In the following remarks I mention what I 
consider best from a shooting, not a mechanical, 
point of view. The latter is undergoing constant 
change, and the automatic pistol has not 3^et ar- 
rived at a standard type. 

There are some points in which even the best 
automatic is at present imperfect, and some in 
which it is dangerous to spectators — for instance, 
the very strong ejection of the fired cartridge in 
some makes, which may destroy the eyes of per- 
sons standing near enough to be hit by the spent 
cartridges as they are ejected. 

I know of an automatic rifle which ejects its 
spent cartridges with great force, and another 
which merely lifts them out, as if they were spilt 



Peculiarities of Automatic Pistols 131 

over the edge of the ejector slot, no force being 
used. This is the way ejecting should be done. 

vSuch ejection would be very useful on an auto- 
matic pistol; now, if near a man shooting them, 
they, even the best, hit one quite hard with the 
spent cartridges. 

This gentle ejection is a patent and is done by a 
very weak spring in the extractor which tips the 
cartridge out at the right moment ; the ejection is 
not caused by the back blast of the powder, or the 
drive forward of the carrier, as in other automatics. 



CHAPTER XXV 

FINAL PRACTICE 

What I am about to describe is very dangerous, 
even for a good, cool shot, and should not be 
attempted by any but an expert. 

It is practice for instantaneous shooting when 
taken unawares. 

Put up a full-sized man target at fifteen yards. 
Buckle on your holster, with the loaded automatic 
in it, the safety bolt at "safe." Button the 
holster. 

Stand with your back to the target, get your 
pistol out and put all your shots into the target in 
the shortest possible time. 

This practice can be made still more difficult if 
as many man targets as your magazine holds 
cartridges are placed at various distances; hit all 
of them in the shortest time, taking them, not in 
rotation, but at random. 

At "go" you turn and in so doing unbutton 
the holster flap, drawing the pistol, taking off 
the safety, and firing — all in one movement. 

Occasionally, instead of firing all the shots, slip 
in the safety, and return the pistol to the holster 
after one shot. 

132 



Final Practice 133 

See how quickly you can draw, shoot, and 
return to holster "all safe." 

The idea is to make the movement of drawing, 
taking off the safety, firing, returning the safety, 
and putting back in holster, all one continuous 
movement, and as nearly instantaneous as possible. 

The safety should be off as the pistol gets clear 
of the holster; similarly the safety should be on 
again the instant the shot is fired. 

If you are using a pistol having the additional 
safety squeeze in stock, there is far less danger in 
this practice, as this pistol squeeze only occurs 
as the trigger is pressed. 

This is the only sort of practice I know of where 
an automatic pistol is safer than a revolver. 

In drawing a revolver, if it is a single-action one, 
there is danger of its being fired by accident in 
cocking, and especially in putting back to half 
cock, if only one hand is available to do this. 

With an automatic the safety can be put on or 
off without danger of an accidental explosion, and 
the Regulation U. S. .45 Army Colt cannot be 
fired till the grip is squeezed as well. 

A musician has an advantage in this practice, as 
he uses his fingers and thumbs independently of 
each other. 

In practising this exercise with a .45 Colt U. S. 
Army Automatic, be sure to draw the pistol with- 
out any pressure on the safety at back of stock, 
only push the thumb safety and put the pressure 
on the other release only as you fire. 



134 The Modern Pistol 

You can practise this with an empty pistol with 
a pad of rubber to take the blow of the falling 
hammer so as not to break the mainspring. As 
you draw, push the safety off with the thumb, 
pulling the pistol out with the ringers against the 
front of the grip, so as not to touch the back safety 
lever, and squeeze that with your palm in firing. 

Keep in mind that the pistol is safe so long as 
you do not press the palm of your hand against it, 
even when the slide safety is off. 

In all this practice remember speed is the one 
object, as long as you can hit the figure that is all 
that is necessary. To hit the enemy first is the all 
important thing, to hit him after he has hit you, on 
account of wasting time in taking a good aim, is a 
fatal mistake. 

For extreme speed you can fire the moment the 
pistol is in the direction of the target even before 
you have raised your arm, continuing the raising 
of the arm as you fire and getting the next shot in 
as an aimed one. 

Even if the first shot is a miss it disconcerts the 
opponent and may prevent his getting in a shot on 
you before you have time to fire the second shot. 



CHAPTER XXVI 



EXHIBITION SHOOTING 



In my A rt of Revolver Shooting I did an uninten- 
tional wrong to a stage shot. 

In the book I gave details of how to do legiti- 
mate stage shooting, and also exposed the devices 
of those who perform conjuring tricks, which the 
public mistake for genuine shooting. 

There was a review of my book in one of the 
daily papers, in which the reviewer gave extracts 
of how some of these fake-shooting feats were done. 

The next day I received a most indignant letter 
from a "Lady Champion Shot" telling me that 
when she was giving her exhibition at a music hall, 
people in the audience, after each feat, shouted to 
her "I know how that's done," and that she had 
lost her job in consequence. 

I do not know the merits of the case, as I never 
saw her shoot, but I will not explain any more 
stage tricks, as I do not want ' ' Stage Champion 
Shots" to lose engagements. Shooting men can 
see for themselves if any of these shooting exhi- 
bitions are genuine, and if fakes amuse the public, 
what does it matter? 

135 



136 The Modern Pistol 

For hitting small objects with extreme accuracy 
at short range for exhibition purposes, I find the 
larger the bullet, providing it is propelled by a 
small charge which has no recoil, the easier to make 
hits with. 

The big bullet cuts into say the ace of hearts, 
where a smaller bullet would just miss it. 

Six well-placed shots with a .44 French duelling 
pistol shot at five yards would make one hole, 
whereas six .22 bullets hitting exactly the same 
centres would make six distinct holes, close to- 
gether, but would not be the sensational "all the 
shots in one hole" like the former score, which 
audiences talk about afterwards. 

Nowadays, with the wax bullets driven by ful- 
minate out of a duelling pistol, shooting off the 
heads of assistants can be done with very little 
risk except to the eyes, whereas with a leaden 
bullet a bad shot means the death of the assistant 
unless provided with a steel skull cap under a 
wig. 

In spite of the advantage of the big bullet, most 
stage shooters use the .22 calibre pistol. 

It may be that they have some contract, with the 
makers to use only their make of pistol, or it is a 
tradition because Chevalier Ira Paine used it, 
but why any one with a free hand uses it in prefer- 
ence to a .44 I do not understand. 

I cannot do as good shooting with a .22 as with 
the larger calibres, and I have, I think, specimens 
of all makes of pistols .and have shot them all. 



Exhibition Shooting 137 

I was a pupil of Chevalier Ira Paine, who was 
an incomparably better shot than any of us at 
stationary targets, and unique in that I never 
saw him make a bad shot, and he has won (which 
no other man has succeeded in doing) both the 
Duelling Pistol and the Revolver Grand Medal at 
Gastinne-Renette's Gallery in Paris. Both are 
better scores than any ever made before or since. 
There is also a seven-shot score with all the 
bullets into a shamrock-shaped hole at sixteen 
metres, made by Ira Paine, framed at Gastinne- 
Renette's. 
. He was shooting for the Grand Medal d'Or when 
he made this seven- shot score. They were such a 
phenomenal group that he was asked not to con- 
tinue on that target for fear of spoiling it. 

As he shot so extremely well with the duelling 
pistol, and as I know no score of his with the .22 
to equal his work with the duelling pistol, I do not 
understand why he did not use the latter for his 
stage work. 

One of his most sensational feats was for his 
assistant to hold a playing card, the three of hearts, 
horizontally. Paine hit the outside pip first, then 
the middle one, and finally the one next the fin- 
gers, which were about a third of an inch from 
it. 

This, in artificial light and reserving the most 
dangerous shot for the last, required nerve, and he 
did this the night before he died, when he knew 
his case was hopeless. 



138 The Modern Pistol 

As I said, he was the only man I ever saw who 
did what heroes of novels do. That is, he never 
missed or made a bad shot during all the years 
I saw him shoot. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

CONTROL OF TEMPER 

Pistol shooting is excellent training for con- 
trol of the temper. Boiled down to its essence, 
pistol shooting is fighting either in earnest or in 
competition. 

Whilst therefore self-control is essential in all 
sport, in pistol shooting it is vital. When a man 
loses his temper he is at the mercy of his opponent. 

Temperaments differ: a word or act which has 
not the least effect on one man's temper irritates 
another till he gets beside himself. 

How often one hears a man say: "I don't know 
what I have done, but X. seems offended with 
me." 

Some take offence at very little, while with 
others nothing can make them lose their temper. 

I know a man who never has even a shade of 
annoyance pass over his face whatever happens. 
He is in constant request for shooting in teams, and 
he can be depended on always to shoot up to his 
form. When his team seems hopelessly beaten he 
calmly makes a string of bull's-eyes. 

This is the ideal state of mind, the control of 
139 



140 The Modern Pistol 



one's temper all should have, and nothing trains 
for this like pistol shooting. 

In the prone position with a rifle a man may be 
agitated but his brain still enables him to shoot 
well, but when standing up and having to depend 
on the muscles and nerves of his right hand and 
arm alone, self-control is all he has to rely on. 

Self-control becomes second nature to a pistol- 
shot. Control of the temper and nerves is greatly 
hindered in cases where nicotine, alcohol, or other 
drugs are used. These drugs do not give the 
nerves and brain a fair chance. 

Loss of temper is considered proper and a sign of 
authority by some, and loss of temper has even 
(most profanely) been considered by some as an 
attribute of their deities. 

Formerly masters of hounds, if the Field did 
anything wrong, flew into an ungovernable rage 
and used disgusting language. 

Nothing can be done properly when a man is 
in this state of mental unbalance, and many a fox 
has owed his life to the huntsman having lost 
his temper with his Field or his horse. 

I am told certain games are very trying to the 
temper. Golf, for instance, has even led to the 
reprimand of a churchwarden by the committee 
of his golf club for using profane language. 

I have seen very amiable people sit down to play 
bridge and after they have played for half an hour 
they exhibited the most vile tempers. 

A pupil and coach after working hard all one 






Control of Temper 141 

morning decided to take a little relaxation in a 
game of croquet. The pupil lost his temper and 
hit the tutor with his mallet. 

A prize fighter was in the habit of — in doubtful 
taste (to use a mild euphemism) — taunting his 
opponent during his fights in order to make him 
lose his temper and consequently his judgment. 

These unpardonable tactics do not, however, 
always succeed. A man may feel angry without 
losing self-control. In fact "cold anger" braces 
up a man and his nerves become as iron and he 
becomes as implacable as Fate. 

.Some are extremely nervous and shy. They 
can shoot very well when by themselves, but if 
others are present they cannot do themselves 
justice, and they cannot shoot well in a compe- 
tition. They are too flabby. 

Nervous men should always have people pres- 
ent when practising, and vary their audiences as 
often as possible, so that they will not get "stage 
fright." 

The fault of others is extreme irritability. They 
shoot well till something annoying happens, a shot 
unexpectedly fired near them, a jamb of the pistol, 
the wind blowing the target down, or other trivial 
matters which do not trouble any one else. 

This, however, starts them fuming and swearing 
(an oath is a sure sign of want of self-control). 
Everything that happens, the most trivial thing, 
adds to their Snervement, as the French call it. 

Their nerves get all in a jangle and they cannot 



142 The Modern Pistol 

shoot. Tobacco is often found to be the cause of 
the above state of mind. It takes a mere nothing 
to get a heavy smoker unbalanced. 

The worst form of nerves, and almost impossible 
to overcome, is that when a man fancies people 
are "slighting" or "insulting" him. 

He begins by shooting well and is in a good 
temper. Someone unfortunately makes a per- 
fectly innocent remark or does something which 
seems quite innocuous to others. 

But the man at once changes his manner, thinks 
he has been "purposely insulted" or "hampered, " 
but he says nothing. The man who flies out at 
others is easier to manage, as you know what he 
complains of. But this man nurses his wrong and 
broods over it without letting any one know his 
grievance. He sulks, frowns, does not answer 
when spoken to, and his shooting goes to pieces, 
and he ruins the pleasure of the others. After all 
we are shooting for mutual pleasure and sport. 

There is the flabby man who can win when he 
has it all his own way, but cannot make an effort 
when tackled. He is what is called a "rogue," 
not in the offensive sense but in racing language. 

The man who surprises others is the quiet easy- 
going good-natured man who never wishes to hurt 
or annoy any one, but only wishes to be left in 
peace. 

This is the Eastern or Russian temperament: 
"Nichevo" (nevermind); "Sechas" (presently). 

Some men get into the bad habit of saying what 






Control of Temper 143 

they imagine are "smart" things, but which are 
really impertinent and hurt others' feelings. 

This becomes such a habit with them that they 
do not notice that they are getting themselves 
hated as much as if they went about flicking 
people over the shins with a whip. 

Some writers of plays which are supposed to be 
full of wit make their characters do nothing but say 
unkind things to each other. This is not wit but 
stupid, callous cowardice, which could not occur 
in countries where duelling is allowed. 

To resume, the good-natured man who is not 
understood, whose good nature is mistaken for 
softness, sometimes surprises people. 

His opponent, either because he is one of the 
sort who say ' ' smart ' ' things, or because he is losing 
his temper, says something which at last wakes up 
the good-natured man. The latter says nothing, 
does not change his expression of good nature. 
He merely begins to shoot like a machine, his arm 
rises like a steel rod, each shot goes into the middle 
of the bull's-eye, there is no hesitation, dwelling 
on the aim, or doubtful bull's-eye. 

He has, in becoming angry, pulled himself 
together, his whole mind is concentrated on one 
sole object, making the best score and beating 
his insulter, and he shoots the best score of his life. 
To compete against him is like competing against 
Fate. 

After such an incident, I saw a beaten competitor 
go up to the winner, and congratulate him. 



144 The Modern Pistol 

He added, "I thought I had you beaten that 
time. " The other answered, "So you had, if you 
had not insulted me." 

If you make a man ' ' see red ' ' whilst still keeping 
his temper, that is the most dangerous man in the 
world to tackle. Sir Henry Irving portrayed this 
when acting in the Corsican Brothers. I have 
never seen another actor succeed in doing so. 

In order not to hamper your adversary in a 
competition, it is of the utmost importance to study 
every one of your words and acts. What does not 
worry one man may entirely put another off his 
shooting. Moving about whilst he is shooting, 
leaving the firing point as he is firing, is enough to 
put him off his shot, and should be strictly avoided. 

It is best to keep well away from him and only 
go up for your shot and not address a word to him 
or speak to any one within his hearing, until he 
beats you, then be the first to congratulate him. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

THE EFFECT OF ALCOHOL AND NICOTINE ON 
SHOOTING 

In order to obtain the best results in shooting, 
a perfect co-ordination between the brain, nerves, 
and muscles is necessary. 

A man who drinks heavily may for a time be 
able to shoot well, but this does not last. He can 
never be depended on not to "crack up" and he 
collapses at critical moments. 

Very robust health is not necessary as long as 
the above conditions are fulfilled, and pistol 
shooting in the open air may be of benefit to a 
man who is in too delicate health to be able to 
play even a gentle game. 

The old, evil days when a sportsman was not 

considered acting as a man unless he drank several 

bottles of port each evening and had to be carried 

home in a wheelbarrow are now, happily, gone for 

ever. Putting drink before all else used to be a 

constant annoyance. A drunkard was not content 

till he had reduced every man near him to the 

same disgusting mental and physical condition. 

If others would not drink with him, he had the 
J9 i 45 



146 The Modern Pistol 

utmost contempt for them. Called them "milk- 
sops," "drinkers of slops," "unsociable," and 
"too proud." 

I always refused to go out shooting with such 
people. Besides being very dangerous, they never 
would do anything but drink. Sport was a mere 
excuse for going out "on the drink." Every 
occasion was made the excuse for a drink. With 
such people drink was the great event of the day, 
and if a stag was shot, there was a ceremony to 
be gone through of everyone drinking whiskey 
neat to "more blood." 

At lunch, after an interminable time spent in 
drinking — they eat little — the forester who had 
been fidgeting to get off, would come up at last 
and timidly say, "I'm thinking the sooner we go 
the best, I am seeing a verra heavy beast in yon 
corrie, with the glass." 

The "sportsman" would answer, "Is there? 
open the other bottle of champagne and help 
yourself, it won't hurt you, there is not a headache 
in a dozen bottles." 

Drink used to pose as the twin brother and boon 
companion of sport. 

In these days drink is known as the sportsman's 
deadliest enemy. 

I consider even minute medicinal doses of 
alcohol are deleterious to shooting, entirely apart 
from drunkenness. Admiral Jellicoe, speaking at 
Gibraltar in 191 1, quoted with approval a state- 
ment of Captain Ogilvy, the noted gunnery 



Effect of Alcohol on Shooting 147 



& 



instructor, to the effect that carefully compiled 
statistics revealed the fact that the shooting 
efficiency of the men was thirty per cent, better be- 
fore than after the issue of the grog ration . . . one 
eighth of a pint of rum liberally diluted with water. 

In Bavaria the Minister of War carried out tests 
as to the effect of alcohol on markmanship during 
twenty days on twenty marksmen (shortly before 
the war), 80,000 shots were fired, and the trial 
showed according to the report of Professor D. R. 
Kraeplin, that the consumption of forty grammes 
of alcohol, corresponding to the amount contained 
in one and three quarters pints of beer, made an 
average reduction in marksmanship of three per 
cent. The effect was most perceptible twenty-five 
to thirty minutes after absorbing the alcohol. 

Most of the marksmen shot even worse, some 
of them from eight to twelve per cent, worse. 

The Professor continues: "An amusing feature 
of the tests was that some of the riflemen insisted 
not only that they could, but actually were shooting 
better after drinking the spirits, whilst in reality 
their marksmanship had fallen off as much as ten 
per cent. 

The late Sir Victor Horsley permitted me to 
quote the following from one of his lectures. 

The cerebral activity of taking alcohol lasts only a 
few minutes, then marked slowing sets in, and for the 
rest of the time during which alcohol acts, varying 
from two to four hours according to the individual, 



The Modern Pistol 



the cerebral activity is diminished. It took longer for 
a person who had imbibed small quantities of alcohol 
to think, the evidence was overwhelming that alcohol 
in small quantities had a most deleterious effect on 
voluntary muscular work. 

These facts bear out in every particular my own 
observations in watching others. 

I find they are not so active in their movements, 
especially if they have to turn round suddenly to 
shoot, but at the same time they had more con- 
fidence in their ability to shoot. 

Who has not seen (to go to the extreme case) 
when a large dose of alcohol has been swallowed 
and a man is "under the influence of liquor" that 
the "patient " is ready to fight all comers, although 
he cannot stand on his legs. 

As Professor Kraeplin says, " the subject experi- 
mented on cannot judge — he thinks alcohol makes 
him shoot better although the actual facts are the 
other way about." 

At the Olympic Games which take place each 
four years, the members of the United States Rifle 
and Revolver Teams which compete are water- 
drinkers and non-smokers, and they are practically 
unbeaten to date. 

Major Smith W. Brookhart of the Ordnance 
Department, United States National Guard, writ- 
ing in Arms and the Man, May 4, 1918, says 
"Civilization has advanced so much in the past 
decade, that it is now almost superfluous to write 






Effect of Alcohol on Shooting 149 

a caution against the use of stimulants. Every 
rifleman will admit that alcohol is an enemy. 
Total abstinence,- bone dry, is the only safe rule. 
Tobacco or any other stimulants should also be 
avoided. They may not be so fatal as alcohol, 
but they all tend in the wrong direction. The 
man who wants to climb into the championship 
class and stay there must be a normal man. The 
proper attitude of mind will give every man more 
pleasure in conquering a habit than in submit- 
ting to it. To win over the smoking habit is an 
achievement of which to be proud and it improves 
the scores." 

Those who make a moderate use of alcohol and 
tobacco are gradually reduced as to the quantity 
they use some weeks or even months before the 
actual Games, until all the members of the teams 
are non-smokers and water-drinkers. 

There is this to be said of the smoker, as long 
as you do not try to prevent his stifling you with 
his smoke he does not pester you to imitate his 
example like a drinker does. 

He merely pityingly informs you that "you do 
not know what you have missed." 

As the "joy" missed consists of chronic sore 
throat, palpitating heart, and shaky nerves, I can- 
not see that much is missed by the non-smoker. 

The invariable answer to the question "what 
pleasure do you find in smoking " is " it soothes the 
nerves." 

Healthy normal nerves need no soothing. 



150 The Modern Pistol 

When an automatic function of the body is 
normal and healthy, it does not indicate its 
presence. 

A man does not feel his heart when it is healthy, 
only when it is diseased. 

In the same way a man who has not injured his 
nerves by nicotine or alcohol does not know that 
he has any nerves, but on the other hand, nerves 
being destroyed by narcotics fight back, and make 
their agony known. 

A man would fight against his headache being 
"soothed" by being clubbed over the head. 

As well might one say a man half insensible 
from concussion needs "soothing" by being 
knocked completely out. If this soothing of the 
nerves is persisted in, a man sinks lower mentally 
than an animal. 

A man in the last stage of nicotine poisoning, 
when told by his doctor, "you must either give up 
smoking or you will die" answered "then I prefer 
to die." 

What a glorious death ! How true the dictum of 
Sir Oliver Lodge that the supreme outcome of 
500,000 years of effort by the Universe has been, 
man! 

The following appeared in the Daily Mail of Sep- 
tember 25, 1917. It shows how men risk not only 
their own lives but hundreds of other lives rather 
than give up smoking. What a blessing if Dr. 
Furlong's suggestion of nicotine tablets is adopted. 

We non-smokers will no longer have to walk 



Effect of Alcohol on Shooting 151 

the streets, eat our meals, sit in theatres, and travel 
in railway trains breathing an atmosphere of 
tobacco, and burnt paper smoke. 

Shellworkers' Craving to Smoke. 

To the Editor of the Daily Mail: 

Sir: As some men in munition factories will run 
the risk of smoking in spite of their liability to fines 
and as others, even if they do not smoke during 
working hours, carry matches in their pockets, it is 
necessary to consider what is best to be done to pre- 
vent explosions. 

I believe that if tablets of nicotine were manu- 
factured, each one representing the drug value of 
say one cigarette, they would constitute a real safe- 
guard against such accidents. One or two of these 
tablets would remove the craving for a smoke and 
check the irritability caused by the want of it. 

I do not wish to convey that nicotine tablets would 
ever take the place of smoking, but they would have 
the advantage of safety, and no disadvantage that I 
know of except that they are a little slower in action. 

Early in the war I advocated the introduction of 
these tablets for use in special circumstances, but unfor- 
tunately up to the present the idea has not been utilized. 
Wm. Verner Furlong, M.D. 

16, Pembroke Road, Dublin. 

The smoker does not see the selfishness of his 
behaviour. He looks on the non-smoker as selfish 
if he protests against being nauseated. 

The nicotine tablets will enable the taker to 
poison himself without also poisoning others. 



CHAPTER XXIX 

CLEANING AND CARE OF THE PISTOL 

In the black powder days cleaning was, com- 
paratively, a simple matter. Now, with the 
smokeless powders, especially cordite, incessant 
care has to be taken to avoid the pistol spoiling by 
corrosion, pitting, and rust. 

Even if you have cleaned the bore most carefully 
after using — the next morning you may find it in 
an awful state. 

The only remedy is to go over the pistol at in- 
tervals, after use, and even when it appears per- 
fectly right it should be looked after every few 
days, to make sure. 

Practice with a single-shot pistol entails less time 
spent in cleaning ; if you shoot frequently with an 
automatic pistol it will keep you busy all your 
time taking it to pieces and looking after it. 

A single-shot pistol is easy to clean. There is 
only the inside of the barrel to look to, and it is 
easily got at without taking it to pieces; whereas 
the moving parts of an automatic all need seeing 
to. The big bore duelling pistol is much easier 
kept clean than a .22 bore. 
152 



Cleaning and Care of the Pistol 153 

A man practising with an automatic, unless he is 
very enthusiastic, soon gets tired of the labour and 
the time it takes to keep it in working order. 

I shot with an automatic which had been at the 
front in the war over two years. It shot extremely 
well, the owner having taken great care of it 
during all its rough experiences, but it constantly 
failed to completely close. 

It did not actually jam, but what came to the 
same thing, it occasionally did not quite close and 
could not be fired unless it had been closed by hand. 

This shows that in the actual work of war there 
is a tendency for an automatic pistol to become 
weak in the closing spring, and there ought to be 
some simple device for increasing the tension of 
the spring, when necessary. 

There may have been some such device on the 
pistol in question, which its owner and I did not 
discover. 

To really know your automatic pistol, it is best 
to have a few hours with a gunmaker, taking it to 
pieces, and learning the use of each part, and how 
to correct any failure of the pistol to function 
properly. Otherwise you may, when in an out-of- 
the-way place, be rendered helpless by a simple 
fault which could be corrected in a few moments 
without the use of tools by someone who under- 
stands its mechanism. 

I saw a man who actually buried a loaded auto- 
matic pistol deep in the ground, because it had 
a jam and he was afraid of it. 



CHAPTER XXX 

PRACTICAL PISTOL SHOOTING 

In England, rifle and pistol shooting are con- 
ducted on lines different to Continental usage, 
owing to the entirely different point of view 
adopted. 

In England big game has been practically ex- 
terminated. There are a few fallow deer left in 
parks, and a few red deer are wild in Devonshire 
and Somersetshire, and Scotland, but these deer 
are beyond the means of any but rich men to 
shoot, and the deer in Devon and Somerset are 
reserved for hunting with hounds. 

There are a few roe deer in Scotland, but these 
are treated as vermin and killed off with shotguns. 

Rooks and rabbits are shot with miniature rifles 
but the rooks are shot when young and unable to 
fly, sitting on the branches of the trees near their 
nests, and the rabbits also when sitting outside 
their holes. 

In England the general public never shoot rifles 
in sport, except those who shoot sitting shots at 
rooks and rabbits. 

The idea has therefore arisen that the rifle and 
154 



Practical Pistol Shooting 155 

pistol are not weapons to use in sport but merely 
implements at the game of bull's-eye shooting, 
and that the shotgun is the sporting firearm. 

The idea is that a rifle or pistol can be used only 
at a stationary object. 

When the above is realized, it is very easy to 
understand why in England all rifle and pistol 
clubs shoot only at stationary bull's-eye targets 
at known distances. 

The reason they adopted the black front sight 
probably arose because it is easier to make a small 
black spot in the middle of a white sheet of paper 
than to paint the whole sheet black and leave out 
a white bull's-eye. 

It was merely a matter of convenience in target- 
making. 

Once however a black bull's-eye on white paper 
was decided on; the colour of the front sight had to 
be black. 

To shoot at a minute object, aim must be at the 
bottom edge of it "at six o'clock" (so called from 
the analogy of the face of a watch) . 

If the aim is taken in the middle of a small bull's- 
eye, the front sight covers most of it and makes 
seeing the bull's-eye difficult. 

In order to see the front sight best on a white 
target below a black bull's-eye, the front sight 
must be black; black against white being the 
strongest contrast. A white front sight on a white 
target would be lost. 

As a result, all except big game rifles and 



156 The Modern Pistol 

English pistols are made with black front sights. 

Shooters of big game abroad found a white 
front sight best, and hunting rifles are now made in 
England with silver or ivory front sights, but no 
English pistol has any but a black front sight. 

Military rifles of every nation have this con- 
ventional black front sight. 

Professional experts test military rifles but they 
test them on white targets with black bull's-eyes, 
therefore a black front sight is necessary for this 
purpose, and as the experts are merely expert 
target shots and not big game shots, this black 
front sight is retained. 

It being customary not to look on a rifle or 
pistol as of any use except to hit a stationary 
target, all English rifle and pistol clubs have been 
formed on this supposition. 

At the English National Rifle Association 
Meetings at Wimbledon and later at Bisley, the 
"Running Deer" target has been in use from the 
beginning, but only a very few of us shoot at it. 

The bulk of rifle shots have always fought most 
desperately against any but stationary targets. 
This is natural. A man who has worked hard all 
his life to become a "crack shot" at a stationary 
target is not going to risk his reputation by being 
beaten by a school boy at a moving target. 

At the revolver ranges, moving, disappearing, 
and rapid-firing competitions were instituted but 
had very little support; a few men shot, but half a 
dozen men do not constitute a big enough crowd 



Practical Pistol Shooting 157 

to warrant the keeping up of competitions which 
the bulk of shooters do not want. 

On the Continent, shooting under practical 
conditions has always marked the shooting at 
rifle and pistol clubs. 

Numerous Continental sportsmen, even in 
humble circumstances, are able to shoot bears, 
wolves, lynx, reindeer, elk, moufflon, chamois, 
wild boar, etc., and above all roe deer. 

It is the roebuck who trains men to be prac- 
tical rifle shots on the Continent. 

In Scotland the roe is classed as vermin and 
exterminated with shotguns. 

The roebuck is, to the middle class Continental 
sportsman, his highest sport in rifle shooting. 

Few men in England, even if they have the means, 
care for deer-stalking as they know nothing of 
rifle shooting. They prefer small game shooting 
with the shotgun which they are more skilful with. 

On the Continent the roe is strictly preserved 
and no does or fawns are ever allowed to be killed. 

The roebuck must be shot only with a rifle 
and not during the close season. 

There are societies which have yearly exhibitions 
of roebuck heads, shot by their members during 
the current year, and gold, silver, and bronze 
medals given for the best heads. 

A good roe-head in a public place draws crowds 
who discuss its good and bad points. 

I doubt if in England one person in a thousand 
would know what species of deer they belonged to, 



158 The Modern Pistol 

but all would know the difference between a ten- 
nis, cricket, or foot ball. 

Rifle clubs are in existence all over the Con- 
tinent to enable members to practice for game 
shooting. 

The club members are sportsmen used to game 
shooting with the rifle, not men who have never 
fired a rifle except at a target or ever expect to 
shoot otherwise, and who therefore take no interest 
in rifle shooting except in seeing who can make the 
closest group of shots on a stationary target and 
to win spoons and cups. 

The makers of targets on the Continent employ 
good animal painters to make the shooting as like 
the real thing as possible. 

I know of a range where you climb steep rocks 
amongst bracken, and as you get near the top, you 
see a model of a chamois, life-size and colour 
above you, half hidden in foliage, which you shoot 
at. 

At another range, there are stags, roe deer, wild 
boar, even hares, life-size and colour which rush 
past unexpectedly like clay pigeons in an English 
shotgun shooting school. 

"Figure" targets in the United States and Eng- 
land are very badly drawn (the running deer at 
Wimbledon was an exception, being drawn by Sir 
Edwin Landseer). 

The "figure" targets one sees in England and 
in the United States are drawn by artists of the 
cubist, futurist, and vorticist schools. Such 



Practical Pistol Shooting 159 

drawings, over which the art critics go into ec- 
stasies, are too difficult to identify and therefore 
not suitable for quick rifle shooting practice. 

The shooter does not know when it is safe to 
shoot. What he thinks is meant for a wild boar, 
or possibly a lynx, is really meant to be the "por- 
trait of Miss X., the beautiful Musical Comedy 
Actress, " put up as a target owing to the mistake 
of a workman ignorant of art. 

It will be noticed that the bull's-eye and con- 
centric rings for scoring bear no relation to the 
object drawn on it. It is possible to miss what 
looks like a bottle stopper and score a bull's-eye, 
or to hit the bottle stopper and score a miss. 

1 have shown a proof of this last paragraph to a 
friend who says he understands cubism, and he 
tells me the target referred to represents a soldier 
and is a very fine example by one of the founders 
of cubism and it ought to be purchased for the 
Chantry Bequest, but I am not sure if my friend 
is a reliable art critic. 

I confess I do not understand art criticism as 
I am merely a sculptor who exhibits at the Lon- 
don Royal Academy and Paris. 



CHAPTER XXXI 

DANGER OF LEAVING PISTOLS ABOUT 

The brainless have one perennial joke. This is 
to take up a firearm, aim it at someone, say "I'll 
shoot you, " and then pull the trigger. 

Even an unloaded pistol should never be left 
about. Someone is sure to " snap " it and ruin the 
lock, lugging at the hammer and pulling at the 
trigger at the same time, just as people rip out 
the teeth of the gear of an automobile by altering 
gear without first taking out the clutch. 

If the pistol is loaded, someone is sure to get 
shot by a fool. Both the owner who left the loaded 
pistol about and the man who fired it "not know- 
ing it was loaded " are equally to blame. 

Aiming firearms in "fun" at people is not 
empty-headedness solely but a form of hysteria. 

It is done by the same people who laugh when at 
a funeral, or commence to rock a boat in "fun" 
and cause so many drowning accidents. 

The best thing that can happen to such people 
is for them to "clean a pistol not knowing it was 
loaded" and shoot themselves. 

There is a story of' a man who wished to kill a 
1 60 



Danger of Leaving Pistols About 161 

monkey. When he noticed the monkey was looking 
at him, he took an empty gun, pointed it at his own 
head, and pulled the trigger. This he repeated 
many times, propping the butt of the heel plate 
against a tree and the muzzle against his forehead. 

Then the man loaded the gun, put it to full cock, 
and laid it on the ground and went off. 

As soon as he was out of sight, the monkey 
crept up to the gun and repeated what he had 
seen the man do. 

Result — monkey's head blown off. 

This is the exact mentality of the "did not 
know it was loaded" fool. 

The only difference is that, as soon as such 
people kill others on the "did not know it was 
loaded" principle, there are plenty of others to 
take their place. 

As they are always acquitted when they say 
they "did not know it was loaded, " others imitate, 
knowing there is no danger of their being hung 
for this murder. 

But if you shoot another man, even if you think 
he is going to murder you, unless you have let 
him first have a shot at you, you run the risk of 
being hung for it; if he turns to run away you 
must not shoot him in the back as he runs away 
or you get hung for it. 

Parents encourage children in the criminal 
folly, aiming at people ; they give them toy pistols 
and play themselves with the children pretend- 
ing to be frightened when the child comes round 



162 The Modern Pistol 

the corner and fires the popgun or pistol with 
paper detonator at them. 

When this child grows up, he always thinks that 
to point a firearm at any one and pull the trigger is 
"humour" and takes the first opportunity to pick 
up a firearm and point it at people. "Want of the 
sense of humour" is the unpardonable sin in the 
opinion of so-called "Humorous writers," who 
consider any one not laughing at their obvious 
drivel is wanting in a sense of humour, and if he 
abuses mothers-in-law or throws bricks at a starv- 
ing cat, he considers himself a humorist. 

Surely any one pointing a firearm at others in 
play should be punished by two years' hard labour. 
This would soon teach people that they must curb 
their "sense of humour." 

There are plenty of other "jokes" left such as 
pulling a chair from under any one about to sit 
down, or putting tin tacks in his boots; but of 
course they have the disadvantage of not actually 
killing him, and you may be prosecuted for 
damages, but the joke of shooting a man on the 
"did not know it was loaded" principle entails no 
unpleasant consequences on the shooter. He is 
always acquitted even as when a defendant said 
"I only pulled the trigger to frighten her, having 
forgotten to unload my rifle when I left the 
trenches in France to come back to England." 
Imagine a soldier not unloading and cleaning his 
rifle when coming out of the trenches, but leaving 
it to rust during his leave home in England ! ! ! 



CHAPTER XXXII 

USING ONE'S BRAINS IN SHOOTING 

PISTOL shooting is not merely the mechanical 
art most people think it is, a man who does not 
use his brains and think out things will go on 
making the same mistakes all his life and never 
improve or become a good shot. 

There is no such thing as luck. A bad shot 
means a fault somewhere, and the good shot is 
he who can diagnose the cause of this fault and 
correct it. 

I* saw a most ridiculous instance of a man not 
using his brains. 

A man was practising next me at Gastinne- 
Renette's. He shot some two hundred shots, 
beautifully grouped but all to the left. 

I asked a friend if he had noticed this. He 
answered that he had seen this man shooting 
constantly, that he was a regular attendant and 
had been for years. 

He always put his shots to the same side of the 
target, and had never discovered that if he only 
aimed a little to the right, he would hit the target. 

I saw a man counting stamps at an hotel. He 
163 



164 The Modern Pistol 

was wetting his finger to turn them over and got 
the whole lot into one sticky mass. 

This latter man was perhaps so used to counting 
paper money by wetting his finger that he was 
doing it mechanically with these stamps whilst 
thinking of something else. 

The former man looked an intelligent man and 
was so most probably in his business, but he cannot 
ever have used his brains in pistol shooting. 

I put a man right once who was shooting at a 
black "man" figure in competition. 

He shot very badly. I asked him what was the 
matter. Unlike most men who tell you to mind 
your own business, and make you chary of help- 
ing any one, this man asked me if I could assist 
him. 

He said he could not see his front sight on the 
target and feared something was wrong with his 
eyes. 

I showed him it was not his eyes but the black 
front sight of his pistol on the black target which 
was at fault. 

I put a big blob of Chinese white on his front 
sight squeezed from a water colour tube. 

He won first prize with a highest possible score. 

Like the conventional man with his doctor who 
has cured him, he never even thanked me. 

Getting into bad habits in shooting has con- 
stantly to be guarded against. 

A horse is very apt to get carrying his head 
crooked, tongue lolling, hitching, etc., unless he is 



Using One's Brains in Shooting 165 

constantly corrected. So must a shooter watch 
and correct his own faults. 

It is as well to get a good shot to watch you 
shooting occasionally and to point out to you 
undesirable tricks or habits you may be getting 
into, without noticing it. 

Some men, when shotgun shooting, gradually 
get into the habit of carrying the muzzle too low 
so that they sweep others as they walk. This is 
the result of shooting much alone, and so getting 
out of the habit of noticing when they are swing- 
ing their guns across others. 



CHAPTER XXXIII 

THE PERFECT TARGET 

Most targets are very imperfect, not only from 
the bull's-eye being a wrong size, but the scoring 
on them is very rudimentary, and does not show the 
real value of the hits. For instance, take the usual 
English five hundred yards' target. 

If a few hundred men have fired at these, there 
are a quantity of highest possible scores made which 
have to be shot off and much time wasted thereby. 

Seven lucky shots just touching the extreme 
edge of the bull's-eye counts a highest possible. A 
score consisting of six shots into the very centre 
of the bull's-eye and one shot just grazing the 
edge of the bull's-eye counts one point less than 
the former, though a much better score. 

No target except the one I am about to describe 
enables one to know if a bullet has hit the absolute 
centre of the target. In other targets you have a 
bull's-eye more or less small, and any shot in the 
absolute centre counts no better than one on the 
edge of the bull's-eye. 

A perfect target should fulfil the following 
conditions : 

166 



The Perfect Target 167 

Bull's-eye right size for aiming at. 

Possibility of judging an absolutely central 
shot. 

Certainty and ease with which the scoring value 
of a shot can be ascertained. 

Such a target exists and is illustrated herewith 
(see Plate 8). 

It is the target in use at Gastinne-Renette's 
Pistol Gallery, Paris, and is the invention, I believe, 
of the Founder of the firm, the grandfather of the 
present proprietor. 

A perfectly placed bullet is one in the absolute 
centre of the bull's-eye. 

Apart from the impossibility of aiming at it, the 
mathematical "point" would be of no use as a 
bull's eye. If the bullet hits it, or hits a pin's 
point (which is the smallest practical substitute 
for the mathematical point), the point disappears 
and there is no means of telling if the centre of 
the bullet struck that point or not. 

M. Gastinne-Renette's solution of this problem 
is extremely simple. It is to make the bull's-eye 
of exactly the diameter of the bullet fired at it. 

If a bullet hits a bull's-eye which is exactly of 
the same diameter as itself, and no part of the 
bull's-eye remains visible at an edge of the bullet 
hole, then that bullet has hit absolutely central 
in the bull's-eye. 

The next difficulty was that such a small bull's- 
eye is difficult to aim at with a pistol. 

This was overcome by enclosing this absolute 



168 The Modern Pistol 

bull's-eye called the carton, in a larger bull's-eye, 
called the aiming bull's-eye. 

The carton is left white and the aiming bull's- 
eye printed black. 




PLATE 8. THE GASTINNE-RENETTE 1 6 METRES TARGET 

This target has a i^ black. The ring is to facilitate judging 

This aiming bull's-eye is of the diameter of three 
bullet widths. 

The target in question was designed for the 
.44 bullet. The carton is therefore .44 of an inch 



The Perfect Target 169 

diameter, the black bull's-eye 1.32 in diameter 
leaving a ring of black round the carton of exactly 
a bullet width, i.e., .44. 

The reason for having the black bull's-eye three 
bullet diameters in width is because this leaves a 
space of exactly one bullet width between the 
edge of the white carton and the outer edge of the 
black bull's-eye. 

This gives a black ring, a bullet width, sur- 
rounding the bullet diameter carton. 

Therefore when a bullet strikes the black of the 
bull's-eye it can do one of three things. 

'It can cut partly into the white of the carton, it 
can cut partly into the white of the target outside 
the black bull's-eye, or cut the black without 
touching the white on either side of it. 

To decide if the carton is cut into (which would 
score one point higher than if the black of the 
bull's-eye only was cut) examine first the edge of 
the bullet hole nearest the carton. 

If this is uncertain, examine the opposite edge 
of the bullet hole, next to the white of the rest of 
the target. 

If this is cut, then you know the carton cannot be 
cut, as the bullet hole is the exact width of the black. 

To make assurance doubly sure, there is a thin 
line on the target, just clear of the outer black of 
the bull's-eye. 

If the bullet hole touches this thin line, then it 
is an absolute certainty that it cannot also cut 
into the carton. 



170 The Modern Pistol 

The rest of the target is divided into concentric 
rings exactly the width of a bullet hole. 

The same bullet hole therefore cannot cut into 
two rings, and if it is doubtful that a certain ring 
is cut into, the opposite side of the bullet hole is 
examined, and if it cuts into the ring on that side, 
then the first ring cannot have been cut into. 

The whole idea is merely having no divisions of 
the target either further apart or closer than the 
exact width of a bullet. 

Then, given a target of thin, good cardboard, in 
which a bullet makes a clean cut hole, scoring is 
an absolutely simple and accurate matter. 

From the above long, but necessary, explanation 
it will be seen that the Gastinne-Renette target 
fulfils all that a perfect target should. 

The highest possible score which can be made 
on it is absolute perfection, and as such is not 
attainable either by man or the pistol (even if it is 
shot from a vise) the target never can ' ' get beaten 
as is the case in any other target. 

The man who can make a highest possible on the 
Gastinne-Renette target, even when shooting at a 
range of one yard, does not and cannot ever exist. 
The target is made on the .44 calibre measurements 
because the .44 bullet is the standard for pistol and 
revolver at the Gastinne-Renette Gallery in com- 
peting for the Grand Medaille d' Or but this system 
can be applied to any size bore, for pistol or rifle 
or even cannon. I do not know if it was patented, 
but if so, the patent must have run out years ago. 



CHAPTER XXXIV 

IS DUELLING WRONG? 

Right and wrong are not, as some suppose, 
clearly defined, as are black and white. Right 
and wrong so overlap that it is difficult, except for 
a. clergyman, to decide which is which. Circum- 
stances may turn the balance, and what is right 
under some circumstances is very wrong under 
others. 

A man may pose as being very good, whereas he 
is merely a coward; he may refuse to fight, not 
because he thinks it wrong to kill, but because he 
is too cowardly. 

Wrong often poses as right. 

Right and wrong are chiefly a matter of con- 
vention, and vary with different races of men, and 
at different periods. 

What is wrong to-day may be right to-morrow. 
The list of right and wrong I give below, is only 
made up to date, and is subject to revision at any 
time. 

Probably by the time this book sees the light, 
this list may be entirely out-of-date. 

In early times holy men did things which would 
171 



172 The Modern Pistol 

land them in prison if they were alive in these 
days. 

In the cruel ages when men knew no better, St. 
Francis of Assisi preached (like Buddha) kindness 
to every living thing, and called the birds "our 
little brothers." 

In the present superior age, St. Francis would 
spend his life in prison from inability to pay the 
fines imposed on him for feeding birds. 

Kindness to animals was never a popular virtue. 
It is considered "soppy, " "sickly sentimentality." 

Men have always liked to bully horses to show 
what good riders they are, and what "control" 
they have over them. They think it draws forth 
admiration to be seen knocking a horse about. 
It shows their mental superiority over a mere 
brute. 

Small men like to be seen lugging a big good- 
natured dog along by a chain, threatening him 
with a whip. It shows their great brain power 
over mere matter. 

The feeding of .starving birds in a hard winter 
and kindness to cats has always been merely 
tolerated, even before it became a crime to do so. 

In the year 191 7, in London, a poor old woman 
went off crying bitterly, unable to pay the fine 
imposed on her for giving a few crumbs out of her 
own scanty meal to some birds. But even in less 
enlightened times, in the days when birds were 
pitied, such doubtful conduct was not much 
approved of except in the case of old maids or 



Is Duelling Wrong? 173 

little girls. The former were also allowed to keep 
cats and parrots. Such kindness was "too 
mawkish" for men and boys to stoop to. Boys 
should only stoop to pick up stones to throw at 
birds and cats. "Boys will be boys" and it is a 
pity to spoil their spirit. 

Such boys are in their element now. 

A great wave has arisen against mawkish 
sentimentality. Formerly societies were formed 
to enforce close seasons for birds and animals, to 
give them a chance to live in peace during the 
breeding season, and to prevent the extinction of 
fast vanishing species, and the Clergy instructed 
their parishioners in kindness to animals and the 
"mawkish" protection of defenceless rodents 
during the breeding season. 

But this is changed in the present superior age. 

Rabbits and hares can now be killed all the year 
round. A doe rabbit, dying in a snare or steel 
trap with a broken leg held by sharp steel teeth, 
lies suckling her young which have come. to her, 
and the young die of starvation when she has died 
in torture. 

Committees are formed in villages, the Vicar as 
chairman, which give prizes to the boys who 
destroy the most birds' nests and kill the parent 
birds and their young. Little girls are given 
prizes for killing the most butterflies. 

Those children who are too young yet to be able 
to kill birds are not forgotten. They are given 
prizes, which they take home to their proud 



174 The Modern Pistol 

parents, for the greatest number of flies they can 
kill. 

When I was a boy, in the cruel bad times, I was 
told I would go to a very unpleasant place when I 
died if I was so wicked and cruel as to kill flies or 
pull their wings and legs off whilst they were alive. 

I understand this game of pulling wings and 
legs off is also now played by boys with young 
birds taken out of nests. 

How otherwise can two boys fairly divide a nest- 
ful of young birds if they are of an uneven number? 

I was at a village fete where such prizes were 
given and I expressed surprise that a boy did not 
get first prize for a very big heap of dead flies. 
I was told that he had collected the dead flies 
found on the window ledges the previous autumn, 
and added them to his heap of kills, so he was not 
eligible. 

It is praiseworthy to kill flies, but wrong to 
collect those already dead. 

I must apologize for this long digression, but it 
was necessary in order that my following analysis 
of what is conventionally right and wrong might be 
properly understood. 

As right and wrong at present stand, a man in 
uniform, if he meets a man in a different uniform 
(a man, with whom he has no quarrel, and of whose 
existence he was ignorant up to that moment), 
and he is told to fight that man, and kills him, he 
becomes a hero. The more he kills, the greater 
hero he is. 



Is Duelling Wrong? 175 

If on the other hand, this man in uniform 
quarrels with a man in the same uniform as himself, 
or who is in civilian dress, or if he is himself in 
civilian dress, and if, as the result of this quarrel 
they fight (even if a fair fight, with friends of each 
man present to see that it is a fair fight) and he 
kills the man, then he is a murderer. 

A murderer must be murdered; that is his 
punishment for murdering a man. 

It might be imagined that if the man who 
murders another has to be murdered himself by 
another man, who thus also becomes a murderer, 
it would end by everyone being killed except the 
last man. 

This is not so. When a civilian has murdered 
another in fair fight, the man appointed to murder 
this murderer does not become a murderer, he is 
an executioner, and is paid for murdering the 
other man, and the incident closes. 

Whatever wrong a man receives from another, 
he must not fight him. He must not even slap his 
face. That is an assault and wrong. 

He must accept a sum of money considered 
equivalent to the wrong done him. 

Some men are not satisfied with this. They 
consider receiving money from their opponent a 
degradation, and even the suggestion of such a 
course, an insult. 

In countries where duelling is still allowed, they 
have a solution — the duel. 



CHAPTER XXXV 

REMARKS ON DUELLING 

The mere word duel raises a smile amongst the 
empty headed. Hardly any one thinks for himself ; 
he takes his thoughts ready made, like his tea 
when he gets up in the morning. 

He opens his paper; in the paper he reads "So- 
and-so is the wickedest man on earth," good; in 
future, whenever he hears of anything So-and-so's 
done, it is wrong; and if he sees So-and-so "on the 
pictures," he hisses with all his might. 

Next, he reads that " such a one is the best and 
cleverest man on earth, " this is enough. " Such a 
one " can do no wrong, and if he sees "Such a one " 
on the cinematograph screen, he stamps and 
shouts with delight. 

In prehistoric times someone wrote a joke in 
arrow-head characters about duelling; as comic 
subjects are scarce and have to be used over and 
over again, duelling became a standard "joke," 
and therefore the sort of people I have mentioned 
grin the moment they hear the word, as they roar 
with laughter when they see a ' ' comic ' ' actor. 

It always amuses me when an actor who is a 
"comedian" attempts a serious part. 
176 



Remarks on Duelling 177 

As he walks in with a despairing air, the audience 
shriek with laughter (because he is labelled as 
"comic" in their brains). The actor says in a 
pathetic way "my wife went out starving to beg 
for bread, and she found the child had fallen in the 
fire, and was burnt to death when she returned at 
length with food." 

The audience simply roll with laughter, and 
gasp "is he not killing?" 

I merely make this digression to show how 
difficult it is to make people think for themselves, 
especially on the subject of duelling. 

Duelling is a "comic subject" to them, and that 
is the end of it. 

Just as war is necessary, so is duelling necessary, 
Duelling is to the individual, what war is to the 
nation. . 

The man who laughs at the word duel would 
not laugh if he were standing before another's 
pistol, and knew that within a second of the word 
"fire," he would have a bullet in his breast and 
be dead. 

He does not differentiate between the "adver- 
tisement duels" which sometimes take place on 
the Continent, where neither combatant intends 
to shoot the other, but merely wants to get his 
name in the papers, and a real duel by which a 
wronged man seeks redress. 

In a sword duel a man, if young and active, can 
avoid being fatally injured. He can keep all but 
his right wrist and knee out of danger, and as soon 



178 The Modern Pistol 

as he gets a scratch on them, give up the fight on 
the plea of being "at a disadvantage." 

But with pistols it is different, provided the 
seconds have not (in order to prevent a fatal 
termination) altered the sights or reduced the 
powder charge. In fact, if he has an accurate 
and properly loaded pistol in his hands, a good 
shot can make certain of hitting his opponent. 

When such a one misses his man or hits him in a 
non-vital part, it is because he has done so pur- 
posely, not wanting to kill the man. 

Sometimes a man who feels he is in the wrong, 
stands up to be shot at, and either misses his 
opponent on purpose, or does not shoot at all. 

On a recent occasion, when a duellist had not 
fired when the word was given, someone had the 
bad taste to ask him why he did not shoot. The 
answer was " I forgot. " 

This was the occasion for a stream of jokes ; the 
writers of these jokes did not of course appreciate 
the chivalry of not shooting, and the delicacy of 
the reply. They made all sorts of silly remarks 
about " absentmindedness, " only exposing their 
own empty-headedness thereby. 

Having now cleared the ground, 1 will in the 
next chapter give details of how a pistol duel is 
conducted, and how to train for it. 

In countries where duelling is allowed, the upper 
classes know how to fence, and to shoot the duel- 
ling pistol; they need no teaching if called out. 
Any one who has learnt to shoot from instructions 



Remarks on Duelling 179 

given in this book needs no further teaching. He 
only needs to be told the rules. There are, how- 
ever, a few points in which duelling differs from the 
rapid-fire practice I have given, one being the 
position the pistol is raised from, and when it is 
permissible to raise it. 



CHAPTER XXXVI 
remarks on duelling {Continued) 

The person considering himself aggrieved sends 
two of his friends as his seconds, to see his adver- 
sary. The latter if he accepts the challenge 
appoints two of his friends to act as his seconds. 

These four seconds meet and agree as to the 
conditions of the duel. If the matter is serious, 
the duel is fought till one of the combatants is 
either killed, or is so seriously injured that he 
cannot continue. 

Otherwise the seconds take the first opportunity 
to declare that their man is unable to continue, 
owing to his injury having placed him at a dis- 
advantage. This means, practically that first 
blood drawn ends the combat. 

If the provocation is a very grave one, the 
challenger tells his seconds they must insist on 
the combat continuing to the end. 

The seconds should be taken into the chal- 
lenger's confidence, and he .should tell them exactly 
what he really wants. He cannot interfere after 
they and the adversary's seconds have arranged 
the terms, and he may find himself bound by his 

180 



Remarks on Duelling 



181 



seconds to something quite different from what he 
had intended. 

He may be let into a fight to a finish over some 
trivial nonsense, and have to kill a man he does 




PLATE 9. ORNAMENTAL DUELLING PISTOLS BY GASTINNE-RENETTE 

The property of the Author 



not want to kill, in order to save his own skin. Or, 
wishing to kill a man who has done him an unfor- 
givable wrong, the duel may end with a flick of 
cloth cut out of his sleeve and his enemy un- 
scathed. 



182 The Modern Pistol 

Combatants are not allowed to use their own 
weapons. The pistols of the regulation pattern 
(muzzle-loaders shooting a regulation load of 
smokeless powder and round lead bullet, see 
Plate 9) are provided by a gunmaker, are loaded 
by the gunmaker in the presence of the seconds, 
and sealed up in their case. The seals are only 
broken and the pistols apportioned by lot to the 
combatants when on the duelling ground, by the 
director of the duel chosen by the seconds. 

In Paris you are absolutely safe as to your 
pistols. M. Gastinne-Renette generally supplies 
the pistols, but in an out of the way place where 
you do not know the gunmaker, and do not trust 
your opponent or his seconds, it is advisable to 
instruct your seconds to be very careful what gun- 
maker is chosen, and if they are the least bit du- 
bious to insist on M. Gastinne-Renette being 
telegraphed to, asking him to send a representative 
with pistols. 

A doctor has to be present at the duel. 

Lots are drawn by the seconds for position. It 
is very important to have at least one good prac- 
tical shooting man as second or your seconds may 
give away advantages to your opponent's seconds, 
and place you facing the sun. 

The distance is twenty-five metres (26 yards 
1 foot 2 inches). The opponents stand facing 
each other and holding the pistol with the butt 
touching their right thighs. 

The director of the duel, after giving the cau- 



Remarks on Duelling 



183 




PLATE 10. PISTOLS BY GASTINNE-RENETTE 

I. Shooting Smith & Wesson, .44 cartridge. 2. Modified Ira 
Paine to shoot .44 or .22 ammunition. 3. Saloon pistol, .22 
bore, weighing and balancing like a duelling pistol ; 

tion attention, says "feu, un, deux, trois" After 
the word "feu" the pistol may be raised and fired, 
but not fired later than the word "trots." 
To lift the pistol from touching the thigh before 



184 The Modern Pistol 

the word "feu" or to fire after the word "trots,'* is 
a very grave offence, and if your opponent is killed, 
it is murder. 

The seconds draw up a "Proces Verbal" or 
report, of the proceedings, which they and the 
doctor sign, and this is at once submitted to the 
police. If there is any irregularity reported in it, 
such as lifting the arm too soon or shooting too 
late, it is a very serious matter indeed to the guilty 
one. 

If a duellist is killed, his adversary must stand 
by the body till the police arrive, and deliver 
himself up to them. 

If all is in order, he will probably get off, or at 
the worst get two years' imprisonment. 

If he has infringed the regulations ?? 



CHAPTER XXXVII 

DETAILS AS TO DUELLING 

The following remarks on duelling apply only 
to countries where duelling is permitted. 

In duelling the challenged has the right to 
choose what weapons are to be used, pistols or 
swords. 

The pistol is the weapon for any one deeply 
wronged, provided he is anything of a pistol 
shot. 

In a sword duel the duellist can parry ; in a pis- 
tol one, he cannot parry, but he can shoot first. 
If his adversary is a good shot and intends to kill 
him, his best chance is to hit him before he can 
fire. A man who knows he is in the wrong and 
also knows he has a man in front of him, deter- 
mined to kill him, is very apt to shoot too hurriedly 
and wildly. 

Suppose A. who is a good pistol shot and an 
indifferent fencer, wishes to fight a duel to the 
death with B., who is a good swordsman but a 
bad pistol shot. 

It would be very bad policy for A. to send a 
challenge to B. It would be equally bad policy 
185 



186 The Modern Pistol 

for B. even if he does not want to fight, to refuse 
A.'s challenge, if he knows A. wants to kill him. 

The reason A. makes a mistake in challenging is 
that B. when challenged, can choose swords as the 
weapons, which gives him the advantage. 

If B. does not want to fight, having nothing to 
gain by killing A. and objecting to have A. try 
and kill him, refusing to fight avails him nothing. 
It puts him in a worse position. A. has merely to 
take the opportunity when B . is in a public place 
to insult B. and compel B. to challenge him else B. 
is publicly branded as a coward. A. now being 
the challenged can select weapons and chooses 
pistols, thus signing B.'s death-warrant. 

The most important thing of all in a pistol duel, 
is not to lift the pistol before the word "feu. " 

There is very little danger of shooting too late, 
each wishing to hit the other first prevents that, 
but there is a very serious risk of lifting the pistol 
before the word "feu." 

The best way to avoid this risk is to be deter- 
mined, at whatever cost, never to lift too soon either 
in practice or competition, so that in case of having 
to fight a duel there is no risk of lifting too soon ; it 
should become so mechanical to wait an appre- 
ciable interval before lifting the pistol after the 
word "feu" that there can be no shadow of a doubt 
that the pistol has not been lifted too soon. 

It is an unpardonable fault to get into the habit 
of lifting the pistol too soon in competition. 

The best way to' cure this fault if acquired (the 



Details as to Duelling 187 

most difficult of all faults to eradicate, it being one 
of nerves) is to lift just before the word "un" not 
after the word*" feu," and get into the habit of 
treating the word "feu" as you do attention, as 
just an order to get prepared to lift, not as the 
order to lift. 

In time you will entirely lose all desire to lift at 
the word "feu." You may be a shade slower in 
your shots, but this is counterbalanced by the 
absence of the dread of being too soon. 

A man who has been several times disqualified 
in competition for being too soon, may get very 
slow in lifting and wild in his shooting, as his whole 
attention is fixed on the words of command instead 
of on doing good shooting. 

Some men adapt a slightly forward lean in 
shooting, like pigeon shots or a runner on the 
mark. I do not think there is any advantage in 
this as there is no recoil to stand up against in a 
duelling pistol as in a pigeon gun. 

The objection to this position is that it does not 
give the appearance of absolute ease and con- 
fidence, so necessary in duelling. It looks like 
anxiety. 

Now half the battle, as any one who has boxed 
knows, is to "get a healthy funk" in his adversary 
before the fight begins. 

If you draw yourself up slowly to your full height, 
plant your feet firmly and look your opponent well 
over, it will have much more effect on his nerves, 
than if you stand in an eager excited attitude. 



188 The Modern Pistol 

Carpentier has this gift to perfection, better 
than any other fighter I have seen. He has such 
an air of perfect reliance in himself and confidence 
and contempt for his adversary, that the latter 
seemed almost to quail before him. 

When the pistol is handed to you, you are not 
allowed to test the trigger-pull, but you can make 
a shrewd guess of its strength as you cock it, if 
you lift the hammer high and let it drop clean 
back into the bend. 

A heavy trigger-pull gives a much louder click 
in cocking than a light one. I bought Ira Paine's 
hair trigger Smith & Wesson revolver, which he 
used for his dangerous feats on the stage, and I 
hardly hear any sound in cocking it, — the trigger- 
pull is so light. 

Byron, speaking of duelling, in Don Juan, says: 

It has a strange quick jar upon the ear, 
That cocking of a pistol, when you know 
A moment more will bring the sights to bear 
Upon your person, twelve yards off or so ; 
A gentlemanly distance, not too near 
If you have got a former friend or foe ; 
But after being fired at once or twice, 
The ear becomes more Irish, and less nice. 

Canto IV. : Stanza XLI. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII 

OUGHT DUELLING TO BE ABOLISHED? 

It is a mistake to think that it is to the universal 
satisfaction that duelling is no longer allowed in 
England. 

Probably it was abolished, owing to some agi- 
tation by a few cranks, like that against stag-hunt- 
ing and Sunday amusements, and even at the time 
of the abolition, there were many who thought 
duelling was a necessity and its abolition a mis- 
take. 

Even a judge of the present time doubts if his 
abolition was not a mistake. 

On May 17, 191 1, it is reported that at the 
dinner of the Union Society of London, Lord 
Justice Vaughan Williams said: 

In recent years a statement that man is a liar does 
not bear the weight it used to do. 

There were times when if one man called another a 
liar, that man was called to account for it, it might be 
even in a duel. But long since duels came to an end. 

If a man called an Englishman a liar in a public 
place, that Englishman had a habit of knocking that 
man down; I am afraid that habit is dying out. 
189 



190 The Modern Pistol 

He said he was sorry he had come to that con- 
clusion, that the "world in general, as it was 
accepted in England was coming to think that it 
did not matter very much if one's neighbour called 
one a liar or not. 

"One would smile, meet him in society, go out 
and play golf with him, and shake hands with him. 

"He wished people would resent more this impu- 
tation of being liars. " 

' ' Vanoc ' ' in the Referee newspaper said : 

For some reasons the abolition of duelling is a 
mistake. Insolent and offensive language is now too 
frequently indulged in with impunity . . . the best 
rule of all is never to take liberties yourself, and never 
to allow liberties to be taken with you, and to re- 
member that self-defence is still the noble art. 

Over the signature of " Les Armes de Combat, " 
a writer after referring to "the deplorable" 
inefficiency of the mass of English officers with 
the revolver, says : 

The reason Englishmen take no interest (as a 
nation) in pistol shooting, whereas pistol shooting is 
of national interest in countries where pistol duelling 
still exists, is because in those countries every man 
of the upper classes, soldier or civilian, has at the back 
of his mind the possibility that he may be called out. 

Amongst this class therefore, fencing and pistol 
shooting is a national sport, with a spice of utility 
behind it. In Great Britain this incentive has ceased 
to exist. 



Ought Duelling to be Abolished? 191 

Whilst duelling is allowed in one country and 
not in another, it puts an inhabitant of the latter 
country in a very unenviable position if he is in- 
sulted in the other country. 

He cannot shield himself behind the plea that 
duelling is not customary in his own country, 
without laying himself open to be called a coward, 
and yet he must not fight. 

At the actual time 1 was writing the above, an 
English officer was having to submit to the 
indignity of being tried for murder under circum- 
stances in which, in a duelling country, he would 
have had a perfect right to kill the man. 

As I sat down to resume writing this morning, 
the morning papers were brought in. I picked up 
the nearest, which happened to be the Daily Mir- 
ror, and the first words my eyes fell on were: 

With the verdict of "not guilty" the great love 
drama trial came to an end at the Old Bailey yester- 
day. vScarcely had the foreman of the jury uttered 

the words which set Lieut. X free, than frantic 

cheers rose in Court, and were taken up by the enor- 
mous crowd, which, seething with excitement, awaited 
the result in the street outside. 

Can any one doubt what answer this crowd 
would have given, if asked if duelling should be 
made legal in England? 

How the law at present stands, for citizens of 
the United States of America and for British sub- 



192 The Modern Pistol 

jects, will be found in the supplement of this book 
(reprinted from my Art of Revolver Shooting). 

The American law does not apply to the case of 
a duel fought by a citizen of the United States 
outside the geographical limits of that country. 

According to Mr. R. Newton Crane no offence is 
committed by the fact that an American citizen 
has participated in a duel beyond the jurisdiction 
of the United States. The citizenship of the 
combatant, is in such circumstances, immaterial. 

On the other hand, sending, knowingly bearing, 
or accepting a challenge in England or America, 
renders the sender, bearer, or accepter, liable to 
punishment by the laws of England or America, 
as the case may be, whether the duel is subse- 
quently fought or not, and whether it is fought in 
England or America or abroad, and whether the 
offending party is an Englishman, American, or a 
foreigner. Provoking a man to send a challenge 
is also an indictable offence. 

The law applicable to the punishment for actu- 
ally fighting the duel, is, on the other hand, the 
law of the place where the duel is fought, and that 
law only, applies to the offence. 

Provocation, however great, is no excuse, al- 
though it might weigh with the court in fixing 
the punishment. 

Under the English law the punishment for 
sending, bearing or accepting a challenge is fine 
or imprisonment without hard labour, or both. 

Each of the States of the United States has 



Ought Duelling to be Abolished? 193 

penalties for the offence, which though differing 
in detail are practically the same in substance as 
those provided by the law of England. 

It seems, therefore, that a citizen of the United 
States of America, can safely fight a duel in a 
country where duelling is permitted with a man 
of any nationality, provided he does not challenge, 
accept a challenge, or fight him on American or 
British soil. 



CHAPTER XXXIX 

HOW TO PREPARE A NOVICE IN HALF AN HOUR 
FOR A DUEL 

A duel takes place only a few hours after the 
challenge, generally early next morning, to prevent 
interruption. 

Suppose a man has never had a pistol in his 
hand. How should he be trained in the half- 
hour at his disposal? 

This is easy — if he is experienced with the shot- 
gun at game or clay pigeons. 

Show him the hind sight of the pistol; tell him 
it is merely to assist him in aligning the pistol. 

Tell him that as there is only one barrel, it 
would be difficult to align it without this sight, 
pointing out to him that his double barrel shotgun 
can be aligned without this aid as in that case 
he looks along the rib. 

Tell him to imagine he is using a shotgun, and 
to use his pistol exactly as he would use his gun if 
shooting at a rabbit which sat up on its hind legs 
for a moment, to listen. 

Tell him he must be careful to keep the butt 
end of his pistol against his thigh, till he hears 
194 



To Prepare a Novice for a Duel 195 

the word "un," and that he must not fire after 
the word "trots "; in fact, he must not fire a poking 
shot. 

On no account, unless he unfortunately knows 
it already, let him know the pistol may be raised 
after the word "feu. " 

If he is a good snap shot with a gun, he is sure 
to shoot quickly enough. 

Show him that keeping his arm straight corre- 
sponds to keeping the left arm well out in shotgun 
shooting. 

Tell him that "attention, feu! " will first be said 
by the master of the duel, just as "Are you ready? 
pull!" are said in pigeon shooting, but that it will 
be a "no bird" if he lifts his pistol before the 
word "un, " or if he fires after ' ' trots, " his adversary 
being considered "out of bounds" at the word 
"trots. " 

Load the pistol and hand it to him, and tell him 
to cock it. 

See that he is standing with the butt properly 
against his thigh. 

Say "attention, feu!" — with a good interval 
apart, then sharply "un, deux, trots." 

He is almost certain to hit the figure, and well 
before the word " trots." 

Say, "I knew you would find it very easy," 
and take him away at once : do not on any account 
let him have another shot. 

This one successful shot is all that is necessary, 
even for an expert duellist before a duel. 



196 The Modern Pistol 

If your pupil should miss, explain to him his 
fault, and chaff him as to his inability to hit 
a "sitter." Above all do not let him get to 
aiming. 

If he hits next shot, his lesson is finished. 

In the very improbable event of his again miss- 
ing, then you will have to continue your instruc- 
tion as for one of the below class of pupil. 

It is of vital importance to give him absolute 
confidence in his ability to hit his man. 

He should on no account be allowed to see others 
pistol shooting. 

The most difficult pupil to instruct in half an 
hour is the man who is an expert pistol shot at a 
stationary target, but who has never attempted to 
shoot rapid-firing or at a moving target. 

If he has besides never used a shotgun, his is 
almost a hopeless case. 

He is certain not to raise his pistol before the 
word ' 'feu, ' ' but it must be drummed into him that 
if he cannot let off his pistol before the word 
"trots" he must not shoot at all, or he will be hung 
for murder. 

Then the half hour can be spent in trying to get 
him to squeeze and let off in time, but probably the 
only result will be terribly wild shots, and he will 
finish with a feeling of despair as to his ability to 
hit his opponent. 

I think it is best with such men not to let them 
have any practice but merely to tell them that 
they must keep the butt of their pistol to their 



To Prepare a Novice for a Duel 197 

thigh, till the word "feu" and that they will be 
hung if they fire after the word " trots. " 

In the actual duel, they will either miss or, what 
is more likely, lift the pistol well up to the sky, 
begin slowly to lower it, and that will be all, as 
they will not have fired before the word "trots" is 
spoken. 

They will be fortunate if they do not let off 
involuntarily after the word "trots," but if they 
are of the sort who keep their finger outside the 
trigger guard till they have had a ten seconds' 
aim, there will be no danger of that. 

I have just been reading a book in which the 
hero "aimed for well over thirty seconds before 
firing straight at the light " ; he must have had an 
arm of steel to be able to fire "straight at" it 
after aiming for over thirty seconds. 

Another type of pupil is one who has shot 
both shotgun and rifle, but both on entirely 
different principles. 

He is a splendid man with a shotgun, quick as 
lightning in snap-shooting, or a "tall" bird coming 
down wind. 

He scorns to take advantage of a cantering hare, 
or a low bird. But the moment he has a pistol 
or rifle in his hands, he alters his method entirely. 

Unless he is an officer who has had "field firing" 
practice, and a few rounds out of a revolver, he has 
only shot a rifle at a stationary bull's-eye target, or 
at a stationary stag in Scotland, and all his shoot- 
ing has been done in the prone position. 



198 The Modern Pistol 

There is a convention in Scotland that a rifle 
shall not be fired at a deer unless the deer is 
absolutely stationary. A man shooting driven 
deer or deer galloping is according to this conven- 
tion "not quite a sportsman," though he may be 
a deadly shot at galloping deer. 

It is called "not quite cricket." That is not a 
happy simile; Cricketers do not, I am told, hit at a 
ball whilst it is stationary, but when at full speed. 

"Not quite golf" seems to me more appropri- 
ate; in golf the poor little ball is treacherously hit 
whilst sitting on its little nest, basely built for it 
by the very hand that strikes it. 

A man who is a crack shot with the gun, and 
who unfortunately is also a crack shot with the 
rifle in its restricted conventional sense, at slow 
deliberate aim, can perhaps be prepared for a duel 
by impressing on him to forget all he knows about 
rifle-shooting, and to imagine he is using a shotgun, 
but the moment he sees the back sight of his 
pistol in the actual duel, he will try to use it for 
deliberate aim and miss. The habit of a lifetime 
cannot be altered in half an hour. 

The shotgun man who has never fired a rifle, 
has no need to be told not to "poke." 

Dwelling on the aim must be entirely drumm( 
out of the target rifle shot, and he must be again 
reminded just before he shoots in his duel. 

The "shotgun man" on the contrary has to be 
told — "Don't pay any attention to the director of 
the duel, if he tells you you can fire after the word 



To Prepare a Novice for a Duel 199 

l jeu. ' You fire after the word ' un '; you do not 
need all day to hit a sitter; show them what snap- 
shooting is. ' ' 

It is hopeless to try to instruct in half an hour 
for a duel the utter novice, the man who has never 
had firearms in his hands. He is either of those 
who are frightened at firearms; are sure "it will 
explode" when "examined, " or "when you do not 
know if it is loaded," or is of the type who is 
"not the least afraid" of it. He cocks it pointing 
at you, turns to speak to you whilst familiarly 
poking you with the muzzle to emphasize the joke. 
He is of the type that rides at a five barred gate 
with spikes on top of it. 

It is the courage of ignorance, to use the polite 
term, but to put it bluntly — it is because he is "a 
d— dfool." 

All that can be done with such men is to try to 
prevent their shooting the seconds or themselves, 
and "losing off" at unexpected and inopportune 
moments. 

They may even in an excess of caution "fire into 
the air." 

People are very fond of doing this in crowded 
neighbourhoods "merely to frighten a man," 
and are very much surprised when someone gets 
hit. 



CHAPTER XL 

PISTOLS FOR SELF-DEFENCE 

These can be divided into two classes. 

Pistols to be carried on the person and pistols to 
be kept by the bedside against attacks at night. 

The pistols to be carried on the person can again 
be subdivided into pistols carried openly, and those 
carried concealed. 

For a pistol carried openly, the big army pistols 
are the best, my choice being the U. S. 45 Army 
Colt Automatic (see Plates 13 and 14). 

Such pistols, it must be remembered, have great 
penetration, and if fired in a room the bullet can 
go through a closed door or a thick partition, as 
if they did not exist. 

Hiding behind a door or closing and locking 
the door is no protection against a bullet from an 
automatic pistol, even the very smallest calibres 
having great penetration. 

The only way in which closing a door may pro- 
tect those on the other side is that the one shooting 
cannot actually aim at them. 

As very few men can hit what they aim at with 
a pistol, this is not much advantage. In fact, the 



. Pistols for Self-Defence 201 

person shot at by a bad shot is safer than those at 
the sides. It is difficult to hit what is desired but 
something else is sure to be hit however badly 
the pistol is aimed. 

A pistol intended to be carried concealed is 
more difficult to decide on than one to be kept 
by the bed. 

Take the latter first. 

The main object of a bedside pistol is to frighten 
the intruder, without having to shoot, the next 
most important point is, if it has to be fired, that 
no innocent person in another room should be hit. 

For the first reason, to frighten the intruder, 
the pistol should be as big and formidable looking 
as possible. A big double-barrelled, pistol-shooting 
dust shot would probably answer best, and need 
not be loaded; its looks are enough. 

It is more formidable than the largest automatic. 
It can be fired without aim; even in darkness it is 
almost sure to hit what it is intended to owing 
to its spread of shot. 

If No. 8 or less size shot is used and a light charge 
of powder, it would not go through a door or 
partition. 

It must be remembered that such a charge is 
very deadly at close range, more so than a bullet 
even, so should be fired only as a last resource, 
also it is of no use to fire at one of two people 
struggling together, it will hit them both. 

For a burglar escaping, if care is taken to let 
him get well away, say thirty yards, before firing, 



202 The Modern Pistol 

it would mark him for identification. It is a very 
ticklish job to shoot at a man running away, as far 
as the law is concerned, and had better be avoided. 

The other alternative for a bedside pistol is a .44 
Smith and Wesson Russian model with gallery 
ammunition, and in the hands of a good shot this 
is the best of all, as he need not shoot to kill unless 
necessary. They are now no longer made, but can 
still be picked up occasionally. 

Now as to a pocket pistol to be carried unobstru- 
sively. It must be borne in mind that if any one is 
shot with a pistol the shooter may get into more 
trouble, and get less sympathy, than if he carried 
a pistol openly. 

One sees advertisements giving illustrations of 
vest pocket automatic pistols of minute size, 
particular stress being laid on their small size. 

This is not the most important feature to be 
desired in pocket pistols. 

A smoker does not complain of the size of his 
cigarette case, therefore a pocket pistol need not 
be smaller than a cigarette case. 

Even these smallest automatic pistols are 
thicker than a cigarette case and it is thickness 
which bulges out pockets, not superficial size. 

As a rule, a very small automatic pistol means 
very small bore ; small bore means inefficiency. 

A pocket pistol of all pistols must have instant 
stopping power, as the shooting is done at a few 
feet or even inches off. 

A pistol which does not instantly render the 



Pistols for Self-Defence 203 

assailant harmless is worse than useless. It makes 
the assailant angry and desperate; he also knows 
that now if he kills his man he can claim self- 
defence, having been shot at first. 

Very few wish to kill their man. He can be 
held off with a pistol which commands respect, 
but a little toy is only laughed at. 




PLATE II. COLT DERRINGER 

.41 calibre, rim fire 

These modern small size automatic pistols are 
built on a mistaken idea that they are the modern 
prototype of the old Derringer pistol, which was 
the most deadly pistol in existence, and the weapon 
used most frequently in old-time saloon shooting 
quarrels. 

The Derringer was a vest pocket pistol smaller 
and more compact than most -vest pocket auto- 
matic pistols, but it was not a small bore pistol. 
(See Plate 11). 

It was just the essential parts of a big powerful 
pistol, shooting a big powerful cartridge. 

The want it fulfilled was a pistol having great 
power in a small compass; one shot was all that 



204 The Modern Pistol 

was required, as the shot was fired at very close 
range. 

Some Derringers had a second barrel below the 
other, but the typical Derringer was a one shot 
pistol. 

Now if you take a big single shot pistol, how 
would you reduce it in size to fit the waistcoat 
pocket? 

First you would cut off the barrel except the 
actual chamber in which the cartridge lies. 

Then you would take off as much of the hammer 
as is compatible with leaving enough grip for the 
thumb in cocking. 

Then you would whittle away all the stock till 
only the lock mechanism remained ; and this was 
practically what the Derringer was. 

This could be still further improved upon by 
making it " hammerless " ; that is with an internal 
hammer. 

The Derringer was a rim-shot fire cartridge. My 
pistol would shoot a central fire shot. 

For those who desire to be able to shoot several 
shots rapidly and who do not care to carry two 
Derringers, an automatic pistol built on the Der- 
ringer principle might suit them. 

The difficulty is that the reciprocating mechan- 
ism takes up room. It is attempted to overcome 
this by making the pistol shaped like a hammer, 
the stock coming at right angles out from under 
the middle of the barrel, but this is awkward to 
hold, and to shoot. 



Pistols for Self- Defence 205 

One good shot, well directed, is worth a whole 
pistol full of shots blazed away. 

This is not the popular opinion, for, as long as a 
constant fire is kept up, and plenty of smoke and 
noise, people think great things are being done. 
It is only after all is over and there is no result 
that they begin to wonder what it was all about. 




PLATE 12. COLT AUTOMATIC PISTOL .25 

Capacity of magazine, 6 shots. Length of barrel, 2 inches. 
Finish, full blued, with case-hardened trigger, slide lock safety 
and grip safety, or full nickel plated; rubber stocks. Weight, 
13 ounces. Length over all, 4K inches. Cartridge, cal. .25, 
rimless; smokeless; metal patched bullet. 

The typical Air Raid newspaper report says, 
"He fired at least three tray loads of cartridges, 
the stream of smoke could be distinctly noticed"; 
and the reporter is in ecstasies, and the unimpor- 
tant detail that all this ''losing off" resulted in 
nothing does not occur to him. 

It is the noise, not the results of shooting, that 
impresses and frightens people. 

If noiseless firearms were invented nobody 
would pay the least attention to an air raid except 
the people actually struck. 



206 The Modern Pistol 

A woman was taken to an asylum a raving 
lunatic after an air raid. She was near some anti- 
aircraft guns which had been firing, no bombs were 
dropped near where she was. It was the mere 
noise of firing that frightened her. 

It is the noise that frightens game; I have shot 
one bird after another out of a covey of black 
game on the ground. The rest did not fly off at the 
shots because I was hidden and was using a " .22 
short" rifle and the noise of a waterfall drowned 
reports. 

If I had fired a shotgun at one, the rest of the 
covey would have been off at once. 

For actual protection in a house at night with- 
out endangering any one, a big pistol loaded with 
blank ammunition (black powder so as to make 
plenty of smoke and a little "red fire" powder 
added to make plenty of flash) would drive off 
almost any burglar. 

I think this is the best house protection for a 
houseful of women to have by their beds at night. 
The only thing is to avoid burning peoples eyes or 
setting things on fire when "losing off." 

"A stern chaser" of coarse salt is a good man 
stopper without being fatal and the pain makes 
the victim think he is mortally wounded. 



CHAPTER XLI 



DRESS 



The dress one can wear when pistol shooting is 
limited to what the company present is wearing 
at the time. 

The ideal dress on a warm day would be that of a 
rowing man with the addition of a sombrero and 
nailed shoes, but of course this is inadmissible. 

The absolute essentials are to have the right arm, 
shoulder, and neck free, and a firm grip of the 
ground with the feet. 

A soft front shirt is not so necessary in pistol 
shooting as in rifle or shotgun shooting. 

With the two latter the stock does not get 
properly imbedded into the shoulder when wearing 
a stiff shirt, but in pistol shooting as long as the 
neck and right shoulder are not interfered with, a 
stiff shirt does not hamper. 

Moderately tight clothes, if the right shoulder 
is free (sleeves cut well out underneath), help to 
keep the body rigid. 

An overcoat is inadvisable. The sleeve not only 
hampers the movement of the right arm but its 
weight on the outstretched arm is a great handicap. 
207 



208 The Modern Pistol 

An Inverness cape, even if thrown or buttoned 
back, is also inadmissible; it hampers the right 
shoulder. 

As having the body rather tightly buttoned up is 
an advantage, a tight fitting frock coat is permissi- 
ble. It is better buttoned than open as otherwise 
the skirts are in the way. 

A lamb's wool vest, or a second waistcoat 
may be worn when shooting out-of-doors in cold 
weather. I prefer a thin leather Swedish sleeve- 
less waistcoat under my coat instead of the usual 
waistcoat. 

In wearing the leather waistcoat it need not 
show. The coat can be buttoned over it. 

There is a shooting coat, I believe the inven- 
tion of the late Mr. Cholmondely Pennell, which 
has a waistcoat of thick material to wear over, 
instead of under, a thin coat. This keeps the body 
warm whilst the arms are light and free. 

Boots or shoes with corrugated rubber soles or 
nailed boots should be worn if the ground is heavy, 
wet, or slippery. 

As nailed or rubber soled boots cannot be worn 
when in formal dress it is best to make sure of your 
foothold when wearing ordinary boots or shoes. 
The heel can be stamped into the ground a few 
times to get a firm stand or the soles rubbed on 
gritty sand. 

Out-of-doors it is best to wear a hat, as one can 
see much better when the eyes are shaded. Have 
a hat that holds well on your head. 



Dress 209 

Do not wear the hats made of hard straw with 
low crowns and narrow brims. They fly off at 
the least provocation and the mere fact of your 
hat feeling like a partridge who is on tiptoes 
about to take wing will upset you and spoil your 
shooting. 

I took a man who had never been to a shooting 
range before to see the finish for the King's Prize 
at Bisley. 

There was a puffy breeze blowing up the range. 

He was wearing one of these hard flat straw hats 
with his college ribbon on it. 

I told him he had better be careful that his hat 
did not blow off and interfere with the shooting. 

We stood behind the two men who had tied for 
the Gold Medal, and were shooting off the tie. 

He had just begun to say "my hat never blows 
off, ' ' — when his hat soared off his head like a clay 
pigeon out of a trap, and landed just in front 
of the man who was aiming. My companion was 
a "hat worshipper, " one to whom his hat is every- 
thing. They hold it on when on a runaway horse. 
If it blows off they will dive under a train in 
motion after it, or do things to save their hat which 
would gain them the Victoria Cross in battle. 

He at once started to jump over the prone 
shooter after the hat, but I held him back. All 
interest in the match was gone, he had eyes only 
to watch his hat. 

I finally got him a little calmer by explaining 
that though the shooters were most probably 



210 The Modern Pistol 

wishing the hat in a place where straw would soon 
kindle, they would not shoot through his hat (I am 
not talking thus, only slightly exaggerating). 

Men who worship their hats do not like trotters 
because they splash them. 

There was one of the rare winters in England 
when one could get a few days' sleigh driving. 

A man had long worried me to let him take some 
photographs of my trotters in a sleigh. I tele- 
graphed him to come at once and I would take him 
out in a sleigh and he could take snow photos. 

I met him at the station with a pair of trotters, 
both able to trot below 2:18, hitched to a light 
two-man cutter sleigh. 

He was delighted, got tucked in beside me with 
his camera and said he would take one or two 
photos of the horses from where he sat. 

I told him not to begin before we got clear of the 
town, on to the big open straight road. 

Now some men will go out in a cranky boat, or 
rush a motor car round a corner through a crowd 
of children without a tremor, but are frightened 
to death of a trotter, especially a keen one who 
takes hold. 

Now my mares had often raced against each 
other and. when together as a pair had racing in 
their minds. 

They were fresh, the day cold, there had been a 
thaw and then a frost ; the road was just right and 
the horses shod with new steel spikes, sharp as 
chisels. 



Dress 211 

I let them step along, the snow came back in 
a shower of balls on us, varied by a sharp sliver of 
ice, which cut like a knife. The horses and I were 
enjoying ourselves, and then I remembered my 
companion. 

I called out ' ' Take them now, ' ' as the mares 
were squaring away racing against each other. 

I only heard, "Wow — Oh" as each snowball 
hit him. Fortunately he was holding on to his 
"sacred " hat with one hand and to the side of the 
sleigh with the other, so he had no hand to spare 
to snatch a rein to upset the sleigh, he was only 
able to groan, "Stop, Stop!" 

He scrambled out and took the photos from the 
safety of the side of the road, and said he preferred 
to walk back to the station, and the last I saw of 
him was with his camera in one hand holding on his 
sacred (in the French meaning of the word) hat 
with the other. 



CHAPTER XLII 

SELF-DEFENCE 

If a man is found in the house at night, he can 
be generally captured by getting the drop on him, 
that is to say, getting an aim on him before he aims 
at you, and make him hold up his hands. 

But there are cases when, in order to save 
another or yourself, to attempt this is merely to 
get killed. 

If a man is rushing on you it is no use calling 
"hands up. " Shoot instead of talking. 

This especially applies to a man rushing on 
with a knife. He most probably will throw it into 
you if you are not quick. 

With an automatic pistol there is little in a 
room to hide behind which gives protection and it 
only gives the opponent courage and time to take 
a deliberate shot through the obstacle, if you try 
to shelter yourself. If he tries to take shelter 
behind something impenetrable, if you fire into 
what he is sheltered behind it often brings him out 
and enables you to get a shot at him. 

If he is behind a small tree the big bullet of a 
45 Army Automatic would probably go through 



Self-Defence 213 

and hit him and, even if it did not go through, it 
would frighten him so that he would show himself 
and give you the opportunity to shoot him. 

A big-game shooter knows of many dodges to 
induce a dangerous animal who has hidden, to 
show himself, or charge. 

Calling to an imaginary person behind the at- 
tacker as "Look out Tom, he's coming your way, 
shoot," will perhaps make a man, expecting an 
attack from his rear, expose himself to you in front. 
Throwing something towards him may make him 
move. The great thing is to keep him moving and 
prevent his shooting back. 

If attacked by several men at the same time, take 
a fresh one for every shot, hit or miss, and then 
you can begin to take only those not already hit. 

This is the only way to keep the lot off and pre- 
vent being attacked by the rest while you are 
fighting one. 

Get your back against a wall or something if 
possible so that they can only get at you from in 
front. 

Taking a fresh one for each shot is my experi- 
ence in big-game shooting when you come on a lot 
which are all shootable. 

If you pick out one and he does not drop to 
your shot and you pump several more shots into 
him till he does drop, you may find afterwards 
that you have wasted shots on an already dying 
animal, and let others within range escape. 

As an instance of doing everything wrong and 



214 The Modern Pistol 

being praised for it, the following quotation from a 
daily paper is hard to beat. 

The writer of the article evidently approves 
greatly of a woman firing at random into the dark- 
ness when she hears a suspicious noise. 

Even if the noise was made by burglars outside, 
she was just in the best position in the lighted 
window, to get killed. An innocent man might 
plead he was shooting her in self-defence. 

A pleasant neighbourhood to live in when a 
woman shoots at random into the night when she 
hears a noise ! 

Below is the article in question omitting names. 
The passers-by as well as the lady must have had 
an "exciting experience. " 

Shots in the Dark 

Lady's Midnight Encounter with Burglars 

Mrs. X. had an exciting experience just after mid- 
night on Saturday. She was in her bedroom, which is 
on a level with the lawn, when she heard noises in the 
shrubbery. 

As she thought that men were there she procured a 
revolver, and, standing in the lighted window, called 
out, "If you do not leave I'll shoot." There was no 
answer, so she fired, and there was a scurrying of feet 
to another clump of trees. Again she called out and 
as there was no reply she fired a second and a third 
time, and then the figures of several men were seen 
running off as fast as they could. 

And no wonder!' 



CHAPTER XLIII 

PROTECTING THE EYES AND EARS 

There is no direct danger to the eyes in pistol 
shooting, that is to say, with a good pistol there is 
no chance of a blow back of fire into the eyes, as 
there is in a cheap, rim fire rifle. The eyes are apt, 
however, to get bloodshot and sore from powder 
smoke blown back into them in a head wind, 
especially from the ejecting cartridge of an auto- 
matic pistol. 

When doing much shooting daily out-of-doors it 
is well to wear a pair of big diameter spectacles 
fitting well behind the ears so that they do not 
shift. The spectacles may be of plain white glass, 
or else of a colour to suit the state of the sunlight. 

Blue or grey used to be the usual colours; lately 
yellow-green seems to be the colour most recom- 
mended by oculists. 

I found such yellow-green glasses a great relief 
to the eyes when bear shooting in the glare of sun- 
light on snow. 

I am referring to men who have normal eye- 
sight, not to those who have already to wear glasses 
to correct vision. 

215 



216 The Modern Pistol 

It is important to protect the ears, perhaps even 
more important than the eyes. There is very little 
danger to the eyes but the ears are in very real 
danger when shooting. 

Even the comparatively slight noise when shoot- 
ing the gallery .44 ammunition or the short rifle 
.22, from constant pounding on the same note, 
affects the ears unless they are protected. 

A concert pianist, one would think, by the noise 
he makes on the piano, would injure his ears even 
more than a pistol shot does, as the noise he makes 
is much louder. 

Perhaps he does injure his ears and that is the 
reason he has to pound so hard and breaks the 
piano strings in his efforts to hear his own 
music. 

Be that as it may, playing a variety of notes 
saves his ears as he does not have the constant 
hit on the one note and with the same intensity. 

The ear is the least known of the various organs 
and is the one least successfully treated. 

The usual medical man has the following treat- 
ment: 

Pour warm oil into the ear, then wash out with 
warm water (a very successful way to introduce 
hurtful microbes into the ear) . 

When this fails the Eustachian tubes are blown 
out with a "Politzer Bag." 

When this also fails some have a little instru- 
ment which buzzes like a bumble bee or sings like 
a mosquito which the patient has to listen to. 



Protecting the Eyes and Ears 217 

If even this treatment fails then the patient is 
bowed out as incurable. 

Prevention is better than non-cure, so protect 
your ears when shooting. 

A pistol is unlikely to burst the ear drum unless 
fired with a full charge in a small room or close 
to the ear, but pistol-fire seems to have a worse 
effect on the ears than the louder report from a rifle 
or shotgun, owing probably to the shortness of the 
pistol barrel bringing the discharge nearer to the 
ear. 

The worst of all for the ears is when a man 
shoots past another's head from close behind. 

Gout or catarrh aggravates this evil and a man 
who never shoots may get "hard of hearing" and 
have constant singing in his ears from these 
diseases alone. 

There is the later stage of attacks of vertigo 
when the semicircular canals are involved. Few 
aurists are successful in curing this. 

There is only one ear protector which I have found 
of any use and I have tried all that have come out. 

It is called the Elliott Ear Protector and is made 
by J. A. R. Elliott, Box 201, New York City, 
U. S. A. 

Savory & Moore of 143 New Bond Street, 
London and Gieve, Mathews & Seagrove, Ports- 
mouth, England have them in stock. 

Most other ear protectors act on the wrong 
principle and are painful to wear and they bring 
on giddiness. 



218 The Modern Pistol 

To stuff the ears with cotton wool makes the 
pressure of air on the outside of the drum differ 
from the air coming through the Eustachian tube 
if this latter is blocked more or less by catarrh 
(as it is in nine out of ten persons, especially 
smokers or residents in damp climates). This 
inequality is increased and harm is done to the 
ear. 

When a cold is supposed to be cured, it often 
is not but has gone from the early, through the 
acute, and on to the chronic stage. It then lies 
dormant, to wake up every time a fresh cold is 
caught, and then takes a deeper hold in the outer, 
middle, and inner ear. Often what is put down to 
gun deafness is really chronic catarrh and gout. 
People who have never fired a shot suffer from gun 
deafness and noises in the head. 

As soon as a cold has ceased "to run" people 
think it is cured. They neglect to drive it en- 
tirely out of the system and it lies smouldering 
to take the earliest opportunity to flare up again, 
like a banked- up fire. 

Some recommend wool mixture with modelling 
wax forced into the outer ear. 

This not only has the defects of plain cotton 
wool but it is a compound impossible to fully take 
out again. The modelling composition sticks and 
remains in all the crevices of the ear and if forced 
repeatedly in dislocates the outer ear passage. 

I use modelling wax for sculpture, and it is 
impossible to clean it out of the nails even with 



Protecting the Eyes and Ears 219 

manicure instruments. It has to be dissolved 
with turpentine and peroxide which would ruin 
ears if used for them. 

The Elliott Ear Protector acts on an entirely 
different principle and it reduces the noise of a 
heavy express rifle to a mere Ithump, like striking 
the fist on a wooden table. It takes all the sting 
out of the shot. 

A man who was a gunner at the front during 
the war tells me that his ears are quite right 
owing to his having used the Elliott Ear Protect- 
ors, whereas a man standing next to him had an 
ear drum burst after a few shots. 

The principle of this protector is to let the sound 
strike the side of the tube of the outer ear, instead 
of directly on the ear drum. The protector closes 
the ear tube so that only a very minute, hair -like 
passage remains, through which a whisper can 
come, but any big volume of sound is checked, 
like a crowd trying to push through a" narrow door 
and allowed only to dribble in one at a time. 

Even the small amount of sound which does 
get through is impinged on to the sides of the outer 
ear passage. None reaches the drum of the ear 
direct, but indirectly by the action of a rubber 
diaphragm. 

The result is arrived at as follows : 

A short celluloid rod has a hair thin hole running 
down it, but not quite reaching the far end. It 
enters a hole of the same size running across the 
tube. 



220 The Modern Pistol 

There is a soft India rubber disc at each end of 
the rod, the transverse hole being between the two 
discs. 

In use this rod is inserted into the ear till the 
uppermost disc just closes the passage into the 
external ear, and the lower disc cuts off access to 
the ear drum. 

Any sound reaching the ear can therefore only- 
pass down this hair thin passage in the rod and into 
the space between these two rubber diaphragms. 

The sound cannot reach the ear drum. It 
passes through the transverse hole into the space 
between the two discs. 

No sound reaches the ear directly. It only 
hears the vibration of the inner rubber diaphragm 
and the diaphragm receives only a very minute 
part of the original sound which reaches the ear. 

The minute hole in the rod allows of the entry 
and escape of the outer air. Thus each side of 
the ear drum receives an equal pressure of the 
external atmosphere. 

When very heavy gunfire has to be withstood, 
care must be taken that the outer disc fits airtight 
into the tube of the ear. A little vaseline or other 
antiseptic ointment round the edge of this disc 
makes an airtight joint, or a third rubber disc is 
added, but the two discs are ample for pistol 
shooting. 

The ear protector is easily kept clean and anti- 
septic by washing occasionally in a weak anti- 
septic solution. 



Protecting the Eyes and Ears 221 

There is no inconvenience in wearing these ear 
protectors and they are not very noticeable. 

With some other forms of protectors, made 
of hard vulcanite which are forced in to make an 
airtight closure, pain and soreness arise if they 
are worn for any length of time and this unyielding 
vulcanite may displace the anvil and bones of the 
middle ear, or a sore may be caused and set up 
grave inflammation. Any ear plug which requires 
forcing or stretching the ear passage is dangeroup 
or painful to wear. 



CHAPTER XLIV 

EYESIGHT 

The back sight of a revolver is held further from 
the eye, as compared with a rifle back sight, and 
the object to be hit is under fifty yards' distance. 
The eyes best suited for pistol shooting therefore 
are those of moderately long sight, the normal eye 
in fact. 

A near-sighted man, without glasses, has diffi- 
culty in seeing the back sight although the range, 
twenty to fifty yards, woiild suit his eyes better 
than rifle shooting at long ranges of eight hundred 
and one thousand yards. 

If a near-sighted man wears glasses the difficulty 
of seeing equally well at varying distances comes 
in. 

Men who have worn glasses all their lives can- 
not be made to realize that they cannot adjust 
their focus. 

They, unfortunately, have never experienced 
the blessing of being able to see a thing close and 
at a distance with equal distinctness. 

Most of them can read without glasses, in fact 
they take off their glasses if they want to examine 



Eyesight 223 

anything minutely which they hold in their hands. 

For seeing anything further off they wear 
glasses (but glasses are only a compromise). The 
glasses are made to enable them to see objects 
clearly across the street, or to see a motor car 
before it runs them down. 

Anything further is more or less blurred, the 
further it is the more blurred it looks. 

If their glasses were correct for one thousand 
yards they would butt their heads into everything 
at fifteen yards off. 

It is always best when driving to treat any one 
wearing glasses very carefully, to remember he can 
only see in front of him; sideways of his direct 
vision he may be as blind as a bat or a horse with 
blinkers on. 

It is on account of this that so many people 
wearing glasses are run over. 

When in addition to this they cross a road hold- 
ing an umbrella well before their glasses, it is best 
to stop the horse and wait till they are across. 

This adjusting of a glass for a fixed distance 
can be seen with deer- stalking telescopes and Zeiss 
glasses. 

When spying for a deer one makes a mark on the 
draw tube to suit one's usual spying distance, 
which is about one thousand yards. 

One can see deer clearly with this adjustment 
from the one thousand back to about three hund- 
red yards, but for a closer view you have to 
readjust the focus. 



224 The Modern Pistol 

If with the focus correct for the one thousand 
yards you attempt to look at an object only as far 
off as your back sight or even your front sight, you 
will see only an indistinct blur. 

A near-sighted man, shooting a pistol full arm 
stretch, without his glasses, sees his back sight a 
blur and his front probably not at all, and the 
target like a post impressionist picture. 

If he puts on glasses to see his hind sight pro- 
perly, his front sight will not be distinct, and the 
target still more indistinct. 

I think for a near-sighted man it is best to have 
glasses made so that he can see his front sight very 
clearly. 

Then he would see the man target at twenty-five 
meters quite well enough to be able to hit it. It 
is not necessary for him to see his back sight dis- 
tinctly. 

A good pistol-shot does not focus his eyes on his 
back sight. That comes in line by itself when he 
gets into the mechanical lift of his arm. 

As I have already mentioned a long-sighted 
man can continue pistol shooting without wearing 
glasses after he needs them for reading. But a 
long-sighted man is apt, when he finds he begins 
to see the hind sight of his rifle not as clearly as 
formerly, to use glasses. Then he has all the in- 
surmountable imperfections of a glass which can- 
not accommodate itself to varying distances like 
the eye can. 

Instead of wearing glasses all he needs to do is 



Eyesight 225 

to shift his hind sight forward on the barrel till 
he can see it distinctly. 

The long-sighted pistol-shot does not have this 
difficulty. He holds his pistol so far from the eye 
that the back sight is right for his long sight. 

It is a most extraordinary thing that men who 
have such bad eyesight that they have to wear 
very strong glasses and even then blink and are 
half -blind in the sunlight, can shoot very well 
in those dark coal cellar shooting galleries. 

A clerk who, when writing, puts his nose right 
down on the paper, holding his head on one side, in 
fact a man semi-blind and suffering with extreme 
myopia made extraordinary good scores with a 
miniature rifle in a coal cellar shooting gallery, at 
a minute stationary bull's-eye. 

A cellar in which a normal-eyed man would not 
be able to shoot or to see his sights! 

He is longing to get to the open air ranges with 
a full charge rifle, but I discourage him all I can 
as I know he will be painfully disillusioned of his 
skill in rifle shooting 

It is the abnormal conditions of a coal cellar 
gallery which suits his abnormal vision. A normal 
sighted person would only blind himself by trying 
to imitate him. 



CHAPTER XLV 

THE WEATHER AND SHOOTING 

Rain, as far as the actual shooting goes, does 
no harm to shooting. In fact, if your adversary 
has to wear glasses it gives you a great advantage 
over him as his glasses get covered with a film of 
water. 

A dull drizzle is often accompanied by a dead 
calm and better shooting light, than a sunshiny 
day. 

Wind is the great enemy to pistol shooting. 

In rifle shooting, in the prone position, the wind 
not only lends interest to the shooting, but brings 
out the best shot, the one who can calculate how to 
aim to compensate for the wind's action on his 
bullet. 

The pistol-shot, on the other hand has to stand 
against the wind and hold his pistol with one hand 
and wrestle with the wind which blows his arm 
about. 

It is not a question of calculating how much 
of the bull's-eye you must aim at to compensate 
for the force of the wind from the side ; but it is a 
matter of mere physical strength to try and hold 
the pistol steady whilst being buffeted by the wind. 



The Weather and Shooting 227 

It is as if you were trying to draw a straight 
line whilst someone twitches at your sleeve. 

No amount of practice will make }^ou able to 
draw a straight line or shoot a pistol under such 
circumstances. It only discourages you and 
wastes time and ammunition. It gets you into 
timing and letting off wrong. If in a shooting 
competition there is a wind and you are shooting 
at deliberate aiming, then wait for lulls between 
gusts, and snap shoot during the lull. 

If you are doing shooting "Au Commandmant," 
or rapid-firing, you have to take the wind as it 
comes. 

Bringing up with a very stiff arm, rapidly, is the 
best defence against your arm being blown about. 

In England all open air pistol ranges have the 
firing points unprotected. From a financial point 
of view this is a mistake. It is better to spend 
money on making the range usable in all weathers. 
Otherwise it is often deserted as nobody cares to 
shoot in a high wind. 

From the point of view of health it is not wise 
to shoot in the rain as there is no walking about to 
make the blood circulate. 

If you keep moving and get into a perspiration 
and keep so all the time and take a hot bath and a 
change of clothing directly you get home, rain will 
not hurt you. 

Getting chilled after perspiring, or sitting about 
having afternoon tea by a hot fire before changing 
your damp things, does the mischief. Even if 



228 The Modern Pistol 

there has been no rain it is much better to change 
your things at once and have afternoon tea 
afterwards. If you get wet and cannot change 
your things on the spot it is much better to walk 
home fast than drive home and feel cold all the 
way. 

I broke through ice in intense frost when wild 
boar shooting at Couvain, Ardennes Beiges, and 
got my boots full of icy cold water (long boots 
over the knee). I walked four miles to the 
lodge and felt all in a glow the whole way, took a 
hot bath, had dinner in bed, and felt none the 
worse for it. 

The others being dry drove home, but if I had 
done so, I should most likely have had a dangerous 
illness. 

It is a very great mistake, when overtaken in 
summer by a thunder shower, to take shelter 
when you are in a perspiration; you will get 
chilled for a certainty. 

Walk home fast, even if you get wet to the skin 
in so doing. Keep on walking, or if you are on a 
horse, keep on trotting and cantering alternately, 
till you get home. 

If your horse is tired after a hard day's hunting 
and it is a cold wet evening, keep him moving for 
his own sake as well as your own. 

I had ridden fifty miles during the day (a run 
with stag hounds which had taken me twenty- 
seven miles from home). The mare was getting 
leg weary, so I unwisely stopped at an inn, six 



The Weather and Shooting 229 

miles from home, and put her in the stable to 
give her warm gruel with beer in it. 

When I started half an hour later to lead her 
home she was unable to move. I had to leave her 
for the night at the inn and after making her as 
comfortable as possible and rubbing her legs with 
brandy I walked home by myself. 

If I had taken her straight home without 
stopping to gruel her she would have reached home 
all right, and had her gruel there and laid down 
comfortably. 

Keep moving when cold and wet, take a hot 
bath and change the moment you get home. If 
you feel at all as if you had a chill, go to bed after 
the bath, put a hot bottle to your feet, pile the 
eider-down on top of you, drink dried raspberry 
tea, go to sleep, and perspire. Dried raspberries, a 
Russian peasant's remedy, are the best sudorific 
I know. The raspberries are dried and then used 
just as if they were tea leaves, and the tea thus 
made drunk very hot, with sugar to taste. 

The leather Swedish waistcoat which I men- 
tioned in my chapter on dress should always be 
worn if there is the least wind when pistol shooting. 
It can be worn on the hottest day as it keeps the 
sun out also and as long as one stands still it does 
not make one perspire, and wind or rain cannot 
get through. 

A thin mackintosh does not hamper much in 
pistol shooting. 

An umbrella is worse than useless against rain 



230 The Modern Pistol 

but may be used to keep the sun off. Of course 
a hat worshipper invariably carries an umbrella. 

In rain an umbrella protects only the hat and 
it drops the water on your shoulders, the worst 
place you could get wet. People run into others 
and drip the water onto other people, in fact there 
ought to be a tax on umbrellas like there is on 
pistols. 

As to snow, I cannot understand any one wanting 
to hold up an umbrella when it snows. One never 
sees people do that in a country where snow lies 
half the year any more than does one see people 
turn up their collars in really cold countries. 

They have their coats fit properly up to the 
neck, not with lapels turned back exposing the 
chest. 

It always amuses me to see a man with a big 
fur coat turned far back on the chest so as to show 
the rabbit skin, dyed to represent sable. 

A Russian has his fur "Shuba" double-breasted 
and buttoned up right under his chin. His deep 
collar protects his shoulders, but he does not turn 
up his collar about his ears at the least zephyr 
of air. 



CHAPTER XLVI 

MILITARY AUTOMATIC PISTOLS 

It is the military use of pistols which has doomed 
the revolver. 

During the war, England was the only country 
which still retained the revolver as regulation. 
Every other country had adopted the automatic 
pistol in its place. 

There are two opinions as to the proper calibre 
for a military pistol. England, having to fight 
savage tribes, had always preferred a large bore 
pistol with stopping power. Fanatics who do not 
value their lives can do a lot of mischief, even if 
wounded fatally, by a small calibre bullet, before 
they die. 

On the Continent a much smaller calibre is 
deemed sufficient; a .32 or .38 or a 7 millimetre, 
whereas England and the United States consider 
.45 or .455 the best size. 

In my opinion the United States .45 Regulation 
Colt Automatic pistol is the best of all army 
pistols. (See Plates 13 and 14.) The way it was 
chosen should guarantee this. 

It was first chosen because it passed all the 
231 



2i>2 The Modern Pistol 

military tests such as sand, rust, and freedom 
from jamming under rough usage. Then it was 
put into the hands of all the best pistol shots in 
the United States and their reports examined. It 
has, therefore, not only passed military but expert 
shooters' tests, and alterations were made in ac- 
cordance with their reports. 

It may seem a great presumption on my part 
therefore to suggest an improvement, but I have 
been a big-game shot all my life and used ivory 
front sights, and I think a black front sight is a 
mistake. 

I am sure a white or silver front sight is the only 
practical one. 

This morning I went out before daylight after 
deer. It was very misty and I saw a stag eighty 
yards off, hardly distinguishable in the mist and 
darkness. My white front sight shone like a star 
on his shoulder when I took aim and I had no 
difficulty in taking the shot. 

A black front sight would have been so indis- 
tinct that I should have missed or rather not fired 
at all, as I do not like making a mess of a shot and 
letting an animal go off wounded. 

It is self-evident that if you want anything to 
be as visible as possible you paint it white. 

White reflects light better than any colour. If 
you distribute twenty white, thirty yellow, fifty 
red, and eighty blue spots over a piece of black 
paper they look to the eye as being of equal 
numbers, owing to the blue being so inconspicuous 



Military Automatic Pistols 233 

compared with the red, the red compared with 
yellow, and the yellow compared with the white. 




PLATE 13. 



UNITED STATES ARMY REGULATION .45 COLT 
AUTOMATIC PISTOL 



Capacity of magazine, 7 shots. Length of barrel, 5 inches 
only. Length over all, 8^ inches. Weight, 39 ounces. Finish, 
full blued, checked walnut stocks. 




Cartridges. Calibre .45 U. S. Government, 230 grain bullet. 
Calibre .45 Colt Automatic, 200 grain bullet. (Both rimless; 
smokeless powder; full jacketed bullet.) 



White being the most conspicuous of all it takes 
fewer spots of white to dominate. As these spots 
are on a black sheet of paper very few spots of 
white would draw attention from all the colours. 



234 The Modern Pistol 

As ivory is fragile, a big silver or plated bead 
front sight is better for a military automatic 
pistol or rifle. 

The first thing I did when I got my United 
States .45 Colt Automatic pistol was to put on it a 
white silver bead front sight, first removing the 
regulation black knife edge front sight. 

I then made the U in the hind sight very big. 
This pistol has been carried through the war by 
my chauffeur, W. Francis, who entered the Russian 
Army as a volunteer and has gained the St. 
George's cross for bravery and he is delighted with 
the sighting of the pistol, and can do very rapid 
shooting with it. 

For practical use of the pistol in war, self-de- 
fence, or duelling, what is needed is a strong set 
of sights which can hardly be injured under the 
roughest usage; sights which can be seen in- 
stantly in a very dim, as well as strong light. 

The best sights for such purpose are those which 
are used on duelling pistols. 

It is most extraordinary that all pistol sights 
except the French duelling ones are so very un- 
suitable. 

The military front sight consists of an upright 
narrow rod as seen when aiming. This is very 
thin and high and is black, with the top, when it 
has been used for any time, polished a dull grey, 
from use. 

The hind sight has a very minute notch in it. 
The result in aiming is as follows: You faintly see 



Military Automatic Pistols 235 

a very thin black rod with a hazy top against the 
dark object you are trying to shoot. 

By searching for it very carefully you see a 
microscopic notch in the hind sight, much too 
small to enclose this rod when aiming. 

You cannot keep your elevation in shooting. 
As soon as you try to take the top of this front 
sight in your minute notch you lose sight of it 
altogether. 

The rod so blocks the notch that you do not 
know if you have the front sight centrally in the 
notch or at one side. 

■In fact if I was asked to devise a set of sights to 
prevent a man being able to shoot well, the regula- 
tion military sights are what I would choose. 

If strong enough the ivory ball would be the 
ideal colour for a front sight, as it is a dull white, 
instead of the reflection which sometimes comes 
from silver highly polished. 

What is called ' ' frosted ' ' silver would be a good 
surface for the silver front sight if it did not tarnish. 

The back sight should be just high enough 
above the barrel to avoid blur when the barrel gets 
hot, but otherwise the lower it is the better, having 
a big U-shaped notch large enough to enable the 
white front sight to be seen in the notch when 
showing a slight ring of daylight all round it; 
both sights as low on the barrel and as far apart 
as possible. 

This combination of sights is seen instantly 
without any searching or eye strain. All you have 



236 The Modern Pistol 

to do is to look at the object you want to hit, 
paying no attention to sights, till your fully-out- 
stretched arm, coming up by sense of direction, 
points the pistol at the object, and you see before 
your eyes this silver ball in the middle of the U 
of the back sight. 

Snap-shooting is made more difficult with 
military sights on a pistol and accounts for many 
men being blamed for being bad pistol shots, 
whereas, it is really the fault of the sights. I 
cannot make good shooting even at a stationary 
target with such sights and for rapid firing or at 
moving targets my shooting is much inferior to 
that with the same pistol, when fitted with duelling 
sights. 

I can understand the English-speaking nations 
not using duelling sights, as very few ever shoot a 
duelling pistol, but that the Continental nations, 
with their knowledge of duelling, have not adopted 
duelling sights is to me very strange. 

The same remark applies to military rifle sights 
which are such as no big-game shooter would 
dream of using. 

METHOD OF OPERATION 

A loaded magazine is placed in the handle, and 
the slide drawn fully back and released, thus bring- 
ing the first cartridge into the chamber, leaving 
the hammer cocked and the pistol ready for firing. 

If it is desired to carry the pistol fully cocked, 



Military Automatic Pistols 237 

the safety lock may be pressed upward, thus posi- 
tively locking hammer and slide . The safety lock 
is located within easy reach of the thumb of the 
hand holding the pistol and may be instantly 
pressed down when raising the pistol to the firing 
position. 




PLATE 14. UNITED STATES ARMY REGULATION .45 COLT 
AUTOMATIC PISTOL. SECTIONAL VIEW 

To lower the cocked hammer, draw it back 
with the thumb until it forces the grip safety in 
flush with the frame; at the same time pull the 
trigger, then lower the hammer with thumb. 

SAFETY DEVICES 

It is impossible for the firing pin to discharge or 
even touch the primer, except on receiving the full 
blow of the hammer. 

The pistol is provided with two automatic safety 
devices : 



238 The Modern Pistol 

The automatic disconnector which positively 
prevents the release of the hammer unless the slide 
and barrel are in the forward position and safely 
interlocked ; this device also controls the firing and 
prevents more than one shot from following each 
pull of the trigger. 

The automatic grip safety which at all times 
locks the trigger unless the handle is firmly grasped 
and the grip safety pressed in. 

The pistol is in addition provided with a safety 
lock by which the closed slide and the cocked 
hammer may be at will positively locked in 
position. 



CHAPTER XLVII 

RECOIL 

When buying a pistol the amount of recoil you 
are able to stand plays an important part. 

This is not entirely a matter of physique. 

A slight, wiry man, whose hands and muscles 
are in hard condition, and who "gives" to the 
recoil will be able to shoot a pistol having a recoil 
which would knock ail the shooting out of a man 
who was in a flabby condition, or not accustomed 
to manual work, even if that man were much 
heavier and stronger. 

Some men can bear punishment better than 
others. 

The duelling pistol has not only no appreciable 
recoil, but the recoil is distributed by the big stock 
over the whole of the hand. 

The duelling pistol has the longest stock of any 
pistol and also has no projections to hurt the 
hand. 

The pistol most people would imagine has no 
recoil is the small .32 pocket revolver and this is 
the very one whose recoil hurts more than almost 
any other pistol. 

239 



240 The Modern Pistol 

Recoil depends on the proportion between the 
cartridge charge and the weight of the pistol. 

A pistol weighing 2}A lbs. would shoot the .32 
cartridge with hardly any appreciable recoil. 

But this same cartridge in a small pocket re- 
volver weighing only a few ounces kicks very 
viciously. 

Besides it has a very small stock made the 
same shape as a full-sized stock. 

The result is that, whereas in a full-sized stock 
the top of the comb is designed to project over the 
thumb and forefinger, in the little vest-pocket pistol 
this comb comes against the tender part of the 
palm and the recoil drives it into the hand. 

I have had my hand cut and bleeding after 
a few rounds with a pistol intended for ladies' 
use! 

The surest way to make a beginner flinch is to 
let him begin with a little pocket revolver. 

I mention revolver because an automatic pocket 
pistol generally does not have a stock with projec- 
tions which can drive into the hand by the recoil. 

The makers know that if the slide of an auto- 
matic pistol did drive back into the hand it would 
do very serious damage. They therefore make the 
stock so that it cannot be held with the comb 
against the palm of the hand. 

Men accustomed to shoot a pistol having a 
heavy recoil get so used to bracing against that 
recoil that they bob forward with an empty pistol 
to a recoil which does not come. 



Recoil 241 

A heavily loaded gun, if it misses fire, makes the 
shooter bob forward involuntarily to meet the 
recoil he expects. 

An automatic pistol can be used with a heavier 
loaded cartridge than would be possible with a 
revolver. 

Not only is some of the recoil taken up in work- 
ing the mechanism in the former pistol but the 
recoil is softer. 

The recoil of a revolver can be likened to a blow 
with the fist, whereas the recoil of the automatic 
pistol is like a hard push with the open hand. The 
recoil first having to work the mechanism loses its 
sudden sharp stinging blow. 

I find I can shoot a heavily charged military 
automatic pistol longer than I can a revolver 
which has much less recoil. There is none of the 
jar and strain on the wrist in an automatic pistol 
which a revolver with the English Regulation 
cartridge gives. 

Cocking the revolver by trigger-pull is tiring to 
the hand, and a very few rounds entirely paralyses 
the trigger finger for the time being. 

It is a very unnatural strain to draw back the 
weight of the spring to raise the hammer and 
revolve the chamber with the trigger finger. It 
tires the finger very soon. 

With the automatic pistol there is none of this 
strain. Therefore a man can fire a hundred shots 
rapidly with the automatic pistol, when he could 
not fire twenty-four rounds with a double action 



242 The Modern Pistol 

revolver, using the double action, without his 
trigger finger giving out. 

I merely mention this as a matter of interesting 
ancient history. Revolvers are obsolete, but it is 
as interesting to understand how they were used 
as it would be if we knew all such lost details 
concerning the ancient cross bow, or Bushman's 
long blow tube. 

When one thinks of the unhappy men who were 
forced in their training to shoot heavy military 
revolvers with alternate hands working the double 
action trigger, it is extraordinary more of them did 
not dislocate their trigger finger or sprain their 
wrists. 

Let any one take one of these relics and work its 
double action for ten minutes without stopping, 
and when added to this each shot drives the wrist 
upwards with great force, he will no longer wonder 
why men used to shirk "revolver practice." 



CHAPTER XLVIII 

JUDGING DISTANCE 

With the revolver, which was not usually shot 
at longer range than fifty yards, judging distance 
was of little importance. 

With a full charge .45 revolver, sighted for 
twenty j^ards, the drop of the bullet was not more 
than about lyi inches at fifty yards. 

With gallery ammunition in a .44 revolver the 
drop was about 4^ inches. 

I am speaking from memory, not from actual 
calculations or measurements. 

The duelling pistol, although shooting the same 
gallery charge, needs slightly less allowance at fifty 
yards, as there is none of the escape of gas the 
revolver has at the cylinder. 

There was, therefore, no need to judge distance 
with a revolver but the automatic pistol with its 
heavy charge shoots as far as the old time rifles 
did and so needs knowledge of distance judging 
on occasions. 

Owing to the shortness of the barrel it is very 
difficult to do accurate shooting at long range, but 
the pistol itself carries and shoots well up to rifle 
"midrange" (i. e., five hundred yards). 
243 



244 The Modern Pistol 

As it is so difficult to shoot at long range with a 
pistol there is all the more necessity to be able to 
judge distance so as to avoid another cause of error. 

A long range revolver match took place in 191 1 
in Colorado, but many important details are 
lacking. 

It was gotten up by the Magazine Outdoor Life 
of Colorado. 

The conditions were five sighting shots, and then 
twenty shots to count. 

The target was a brown paper profile of a turkey 
at three hundred yards' range. 

This description is very vague, as all reports of 
shooting by non-experts are ; they always leave out 
vital details and put in a lot of useless matter ; it 
may mean a target of fifteen inches in diameter 
(if it only included the body of the turkey) or over 
thirty inches (if it included the whole of the turkey, 
head, legs, feathers, and tail). 

Probably it was the latter size as, if it was only 
fifteen inches in diameter, that would correspond 
to an inch bull's-eye at twenty yards, or a 2]4- 
inch one at fifty yards, much too small for re- 
volver shooting. 

It is extremely difficult to hit a four-inch bull's- 
eye for a succession of twenty shots at fifty yards. 
I have hit it ten times in twelve shots (see page 
349), and the much greater difficulty of hitting a 
corresponding sized target at three hundred yards 
would make a full score impossible with a revolver. 

The winner, name not given, made three hits 



Judging Distance 245 

for his twenty shots, six men hit it twice in their 
twenty shots, six hit it once, and six missed every 
shot. 

This is not a very encouraging result of a long 
range revolver shoot. 

Though the automatic pistol would be much 
more accurate at that distance, still I doubt if 
any one could get more than eight shots on the 
turkey in twenty shots at three hundred yards. 

To be of any use for comparison the actual 
diameter of the turkey would have to be as- 
certained. 

Judging distance should be constantly practised, 
under all conditions of light, by judging when out 
walking how far off a man is, and then walking up 
to the spot, counting your steps, to see if you have 
judged right. 

Do not measure distance by yard strides and 
thus draw attention to your movements and raise 
doubt as to your sanity. 

First measure in private, say one hundred yards, 
and then walk it with your natural length of step 
when walking at your usual speed, and see how 
many of your steps go to one hundred yards. 

When you know your number of steps for a hund- 
red yards you can measure distances in ordinary 
walking and without passers-by noticing what you 
are doing. 

My natural walk is 104 steps to the 100 yards 
at four miles ah hour. 

Try, when you think you are fairly accurate, to 






246 The Modern Pistol 

judge the distance a man is off also judge how far a 
small boy is. You will find at first you think him 
much further off than he is owing to having got 
into the habit of judging the distance by the 
height of the man. 

When you come back to judging how far off a 
man is you will underestimate the distance for the 
same reason. 

Mist makes an object appear much further off 
than it really is ; a sheep close by appears as large 
as a stag one hundred yards off. 

Distance is very deceptive and if one is accus- 
tomed to judging the distance of an object of a 
certain size and then has to change to a similar 
looking object of a different size the difficulty is 
increased. 

When I have been shooting at stags and judging 
their distance with fair accuracy and then change 
to roe deer shooting, the roe always seems much 
further off than the real distance, because a roe at 
one hundred yards looks the same size as a stag at 
two hundred yards off. 

This difficulty is increased if the objects are 
mistaken for each other. 

Suppose a river with steep banks, fifty yards 
broad, in a flat meadow, and you stand in clear 
atmosphere and full sunshine at a spot twenty 
yards from the nearest bank. From where you 
stand you cannot see the breadth of the river; the 
two banks looking like one line on the green of the 
meadow. 



Judging Distance 247 

A faded, weatherbeaten, red fire bucket, is 
standing on the edge of the far bank, and a flower 
pot on the near bank. 

Both objects look identical in size, shape, and 
colour because of the linear and aerial perspective 
at these distances, and it is impossible, unless 
they are studied very carefully with a telescope or 
field glass, to know which is which and therefore 
which is the further off. If you are accustomed to 
judging the distances of flower pots you would 
think the fire bucket was a flower pot and therefore 
only twenty yards off instead of seventy. 

Be sure you know what the object is when using 
it as a means of judging distance, it may be some- 
thing much larger or smaller of a similar appear- 
ance. 

A pony, when seen through a thick haze, 
mistaken for a horse would entirely upset your 
calculations. 

The use of being able to judge distances accur- 
ately is to enable you to decide how much to aim 
above a distant object to make up for the distance 
the bullet drops in going that distance. 

The drop of the bullet increases rapidly as the 
distance increases. 

Whilst at short range the drop is so slight that 
it does not signify except for extremely accurate 
shooting, the bullet does not drop in similar pro- 
portion at further range. 

At two hundred it may not drop more than 
double what it does at one hundred, but the pro- 



248 The Modern Pistol 

portion of drop between two hundred and three 
hundred is still greater and so on; the flight of the 
bullet describing, not a section of the circumfer- 
ence of a circle, but a parabolic curve. 

When shooting at a man standing upright this 
drop can be ignored up to four hundred yards 
with the Military Automatic pistol; as long as the 
aim is taken at the top of the chest it will hit him 
somewhere. 

But if only a man's head shows it may be missed 
over or under according as the distance is mis- 
judged, too far or too short. 

If a puff of dust or a splash of water can be seen 
where the first bullet strikes it will serve to correct 
the aim for the next shot. 



CHAPTER XLIX 

GAME SHOOTING 

The single shot .22 pistol is much used in the 
United States for small game shooting for the pot, 
when camping out after big game. It does not 
make much noise and also has the advantage of 
being very portable. 

Game birds sometimes come close to a camp in 
the early morning or evening; and a sitting shot 
for the pot can be got at them without disturbing 
the ground, when a shotgun would clear all the 
ground for miles round. 

I find a .22 pistol has not enough stopping power 
to prevent a wounded rabbit getting to ground and 
consequently lost. A great proportion of rabbits 
hit with this bullet are lost. 

I use a .44 duelling pistol for rabbit stalking 
when they are sitting outside their holes. If a 
rabbit is hit by it he very seldom gets into his hole. 

The big bullet does not spoil the rabbit as much 
as might be thought, the bullet being round and 
solid it only makes a hole of its own size and goes 
straight through the rabbit. 

A .22 hollow pointed bullet makes much more 
249 



250 The Modern Pistol 

mess and has the disadvantage often of not stop- 
ping the rabbit though it maims it. The duelling 
pistol would spoil a game bird if hit in the body 
but it is all right for a head shot. 

It makes slightly more noise than a .22 pistol 
but it is a soft noise and does not travel far. 

I think when game for the pot has to be shot 
that a ".22 short" cartridge out of a rifle with a 
telescope sight is best. 

After all, hitting the bird at forty or fifty 
yards off with a pistol takes some doing, whereas 
with a telescopic sighted rifle the shot would be 
a certainty. 

The pistol is very little used for what seems to 
me to be a very useful function. 

When shooting big game there are many occa- 
sions when another shot has to be fired at wounded 
game unable to get away. 

Say a wild boar for instance is brought to bay by 
the first shot. 

He cannot be approached with safety to use the 
knife, he is killing the dogs, he has to be shot again. 

Now you do not want to fire your rifle, which 
makes a boom like a cannon, as that would disturb 
the rest of the beat. 

If you have a pistol which shoots a big .44 
calibre ball with a reduced charge of powder you 
can go close up to the boar and kill him without 
making much noise. 

If a wounded animal gets you down, a pistol 
which lies close to your hand may save your life, 



Game Shootihg 251 

and if it shoots a heavy charge and is rapidly 
fired several times into his body, it would stop 
most animals except an elephant or rhinoceros. 

A rifle can be lost in falling or lain on, the 
length of barrel prevents it being used at close 
quarters. 

The objection to carrying a pistol in big-game 
shooting is that every possible ounce in weight 
has to be saved, especially in a hot climate. The 
pistol is so much extra weight and when climbing 
amongst rocks it is a great nuisance. To be of any 
use against dangerous game the pistol must shoot 
a big bullet. 

In the instance of the wild boar, I mentioned a 
reduced charge but my idea is to carry the two 
sorts of cartridges and to have the automatic 
loaded with full charge cartridges, but if game has 
to be finished which is not endangering your life, 
I recommend putting in a gallery charge cartridge 
for this particular finishing shot so as not to make 
more noise than absolutely necessa^, and not to 
disturb other game which may be near. 

An automatic pistol built for a big charge will 
not function with a reduced charge. Such a charge 
does not give enough recoil to introduce the next 
cartridge and an automatic only works properly 
with the exact load it is designed for. With a 
reduced charge the automatic pistol, after the 
shot, remains half open. 

If the magazine and also the cartridge which is 
in the barrel are first taken out, the gallery-load 



252 The Modern Pistol 

cartridge can be put in the barrel and fired. After- 
wards the loaded magazine can be put back again 
and the pistol is ready to shoot the heavy charge. 

A single-shot 44 gallery ammunition pistol with 
very short barrel like the old-fashioned Derringer, 
could be carried without taking up any room or 
appreciable weight and be used for finishing deer, 
or other non-dangerous game. 

The forester who goes with me moufflon shoot- 
ing carries a 9 Millimetre Mauser Automatic pis- 
tol for self-defence against poachers and he shoots 
small game with it when he comes across it. It is, 
however, a noisy little pistol. 

Do not take a smaller calibre pistol than a .38 
for finishing big game. It does not kill them clear. 



CHAPTER L 

SHOOTING FROM HORSEBACK 

This needs an entirely different training to 
shooting when on foot. 

It needs knowledge of "Horsemanship" above 
all else. 

Ninety per cent, horsemanship and ten per cent, 
pistol shooting skill will beat the finest pistol shot 
if he has only ten per cent., horsemanship to his 
ninety per cent, shooting skill. 

By "horsemanship" I mean "horsemanship," 
not mere skill in sticking on a horse's back. 

A man may have ridden all his life and be able 
to stick on the back of any horse and yet be no 
"horseman." 

Merely keeping one's seat, and "horsemanship" 
are two entirely different matters. 

The "rider" (i. e., sticker-on) turns his horse by 
pulling a rein. If he wants to go faster he hits his 
horse or kicks his heels into it, if he wants to stop 
he pulls with both hands. 

. If he wants to turn, he pulls his horse's head 
round and the horse pivots on his fore legs and his 
hind legs follow in a wider circle. 

The "horseman" uses the aids, that is, his left 
253 



254 The Modern Pistol 

hand on the reins and the calves of his legs against 
his horse's sides. 

By the pressure of the calf of his leg, feeling the 
horse's mouth, and the rein against the horse's 
neck, he can make the horse obey his every wish, 
because the horse understands, without any 
tugging, hitting, or forcing. 

"Horsemanship" is having the horse under per- 
fect control and obedient to an indication so slight 
that it is imperceptible to the onlooker. 

The "rider" tries to compel the horse by main 
force to obey him, and the horse, even when it 
understands and obeys, does it in his own way, not 
his rider's way. 

It is the difference between two perfect dancers 
moving as one, and a man who has a vague idea 
of dancing trying to lug round a partner who 
knows nothing about dancing. 

The "horseman" and his horse are one. 

The "rider" and his horse are like a policeman 
taking off an unwilling prisoner who does not know 
what he is accused of. 

In the one case the horse is watchful for every 
wish of his rider and instantly obeys, in the other 
the horse is all the time misunderstanding what his 
rider wants and being punished for his ignorance. 

Unfortunately very few Americans or English- 
men know even the rudiments of the "High 
School." 

That is why so few "riders" can play polo, both 
man and pony must be of one mind and understand 



Shooting from Horseback 255 

each other and that can only be learned in the 
"High School, " which is "Horsemanship." 

The reason foreign officers are so successful in 
the jumping competitions at the Olympia Horse 
Show is that they are horsemen in the "High 
School" and their jumping horses are trained to it 
also. 

Matador, the celebrated Belgian high jumper, 
can do the Spanish trot like a circus horse. 

Ladies riding astride generally know nothing of 
"horsemanship," but exaggerate the faults of men 
"riders." 

Their stirrup leathers are so short that the heels 
are drawn back and the toes point downwards. 
To go faster they hit the horse with their whips or 
strike their heels into it but immediately back 
go their legs into the "heel up toe down " position 
with their feet almost driven through the stirrups. 

The legs stop in this position during the whole 
ride, as if they were stuffed dummy legs. 

They only know one use of the legs, that is to 
grip the saddle so as to keep their seats in it. 

The "High School" rider uses his legs for giving 
the indications to his horse of what he wants it to 
do, supplemented by the reins, which, by more or 
less pressure on the mouth and against the horse's 
neck, indicate the horseman's wishes to the horse. 

A "horseman" does not pull at one rein to turn 
the horse any more than an expert cyclist turns 
the handle bars when he wants to turn a corner. 

The cyclist leans to the side he wants to turn to 



256 The Modern Pistol 

and comes round like a pair of compasses do when 
you lean them over and let the pencil swing round. 

If a "horseman" wants to open a gate he does not 
kick his heels into the horse and thus force him up 
to the gate and then lean over the horse's neck to 
try and reach the gate, which the horse is backing 
from. The "horseman" holding his reins in his 
left hand, squeezes the horse with the calves of his 
legs and this makes the horse go forward. 

As he gets to the gate the "horseman" puts his 
left calf further back against the horse's left side, 
at the same time putting his left hand slightly to 
the left so that the right rein presses against the 
horse's neck. 

This turns the horse's neck and shoulders to the 
left whilst the pressure of the left calf against the 
horse's left side makes him put his right hind 
quarters to the right. The horse now stands 
broadside up against the gate and the "horseman" 
can easily use his right hand on the gate lock, 
without having to lean over. 

When he has taken hold of the gate a slightly 
greater pressure of his right calf whilst tightening 
the reins makes the horse's back and quarter turn, 
and the gate is opened. He eases his horse's mouth, 
squeezes with both calves, and the horse walks 
through the open gate whilst the gate closes behind 
him. 

Suppose two equally good pistol shots, one a 
good "rider" and the other a good "horseman" 
are in a mounted pistol competition. 



Shooting from Horseback 257 

They are told to walk their horses past the 
target and shoot at it one shot out of their auto- 
matic pistol as they pass. Both of the horses have 
not seen the target before and are rather shy 
of it. 

The "rider" having to hold his pistol can use 
only one hand to his horse and being accustomed 
all his life to guide his horse by pulling at the reins 
cannot guide the horse properly with only his 
left hand. 

•As the horse comes up to the target he turns his 
head towards it and his quarters away from it and 
begins to sidle away, walking all crooked, the rider 
kicks his heels into him to try and get him up to 
the target and when he puts out his arm to aim the 
horse sidles away still more and whips round 
away from the target spoiling the shot. 

After the "rider" has fired he needs both hands 
to turn the horse and bring it back, and, having 
the pistol as well as a rein in his right hand, fires 
one or two more shots, unintentionally. 

The "horseman" squeezes his horse by pressure 
of the calves into his bridle, his horse like the for- 
mer horse seeing the target tries to turn his head 
towards it and to sidle away from it. 

The "horseman" merely moves his left hand 
slightly to the left, causing his right rein to press 
against his horse's neck and thereby turns the 
horse's fore part straight again; at the same time 
he puts his left calf back along the horse's side 
and this puts his hind quarters straight into place. 



258 The Modern Pistol 

If the horse tries to resist, the left spur touches 
him and he gives in. 

When the shot is fired the horse is wheeled round 
to the left by the pressure of the left hand and 
right calf whilst at the same time the right thumb 
slips on the safety of the automatic pistol. 

If the reader is not a ' ' horseman ' ' and wants to 
learn pistol shooting from horseback, he and his 
horse should go through the cavalry course first. 

Even when a horse is standing still, he is breath- 
ing, so it is difficult to make good shooting with 
deliberate aim off horseback. 

All shooting has to be done with swing and snap 
shooting. Care must be taken not to shoot too 
close past a horse's ears; it may be advisable to 
put on a hood with closed ear covers, so that he 
does not get the full noise into his ears. 

There is not much to teach as to the actual 
shooting, it is almost entirely horsemanship, 
finding out which angle suits you best to shoot 
from, at what speed the horse moves smoothest, 
etc. 

An automatic pistol is safer than a revolver for 
use on horseback. There is no putting to half- 
cock but only slipping the safety on or off. 

If the horse begins to plunge, slip on the safety 
at once, in fact at any indication of trouble with 
the horse put on the safety. 

Do not slip off the safety till the instant before 
firing and slip it on the moment you have fired. 

As you cannot shoot blank ammunition out of 



Shooting from Horseback 259 

an automatic pistol you will have to use a single 
barrel pistol for teaching a horse to stand fire. 

Be very careful not to scorch him or shoot past 
his eyes as that will make him always apt to 
flinch. 

An underbred horse is better than a blood horse 
as a rule for shooting off, but when you do get a 
thoroughbred who will stand fire, as he has more 
courage, he will stand fire better than any other 
horse, and bis paces are easier, especially the can- 
ter and gallop. 

A handy polo pony makes a good shooting pony 
if it stands fire, as it is used to starting, stopping, 
and turning. 



CHAPTER LI 

GALLERY AUTOMATIC PISTOLS 

Rifles and pistols though greatly improved in 
some respects are now progressing too much in one 
direction. 

The inventor's sole idea seems to be to get the 
most powerful cartridge possible. 

They have now reduced the rifle to a small bore 
with an extremely heavy charge and therefore the 
rifle has to be made very heavy to be safe from 
bursting. 

This may be very necessary for war but it is a 
great disadvantage for the many other purposes a 
rifle is used for. 

The new rifle is unsuitable for dangerous game 
shooting. People think that as such game is shot 
at very long ranges and that the further off the 
game is shot the better the sportsman. 

I am constantly asked, "When deer stalking, 
how far off do you shoot a stag?" 

They expect the answer to be, "A thousand 
yards or so." 

When I say, "as close as I can possibly get, 
generally from about fifty to seventy yards, I 
260 



Gallery Automatic Pistols 261 

never shoot at deer beyond two hundred yards" 
they form a very low opinion of my skill. 

With bears and wild boar seventy yards is a 
long shot, from ten to forty is the usual distance. 

Often these animals are in rapid motion. I 
stand up to shoot, there is no lying down on the 
face and aiming for ten minutes. 

Modern "improved" rifles are quite unsuited 
for this. 

The long distance they carry is a great 'drawback 
and makes them very dangerous to use in a popu- 
lous country and for the beaters. 

Their small calibre does not knock down an 
animal instantly like a big bullet does. They have 
too much penetration and are apt to hit two or 
more animals with the same bullet. 

A charging animal a few yards off may do a 
lot of damage after being hit by a small bore rifle. 
There have not been fewer, but more, fatal acci- 
dents from wounded lions and buffalo in Africa 
since these small bore, high power, rifles have 
come into use. 

The heavy weight of a double high power rifle 
is of a prohibitive weight for snap-shooting. 

The recoil also is so great that aim cannot be 
instantaneously taken for the second shot. 

In the black powder days sportsmen's re- 
quirements were not subordinated to military 
requirements. 

Express rifles were used by deer stalkers in Scot- 
land and the typical U. S. rifle for grizzly bears 



262 The Modern Pistol 

was the 44 Winchester repeater which ■ shot a 
small charge of powder. 

For big game shooting accuracy is not needed 
beyond two hundred yards but a big bullet giving 
a knock down blow and a rifle capable of firing 
several shots in succession with great rapidity. 
Rifle to be light and handy as a shotgun. 

Needing a smokeless rifle answering to the above 
requirements, I first tried gallery ammunition in a 
.303 rifle, double rifle. 

I found the weight of the rifle was too great 
and the calibre too small. 

I then tried a .400 double rifle, lightened very 
much and shooting a small charge of smokeless 
powder, I got the weight down to that of a double 
1 2 -bore pigeon gun. 

Then I discovered there was danger of getting a 
full charge cartridge into the rifle by mistake and 
bursting it. The difficulty was solved by having a 
special chamber and a straight cartridge of large 
calibre, and small powder charge of cordite. No 
high power cartridge can be got into the chamber 
of this rifle, as they are all bottlenecked so there 
is no danger of shooting the wrong ammunition. 
This double rifle is light and handy, very accurate 
up to one hundred yards and all it hits it knocks 
down like Thor's hammer. 

Unfortunately, the automatic pistol also has 
been "improved" on modern rifle lines. 

The utmost possible power has been put into the 
cartridge and the pistol has to be heavy and 



Gallery Automatic Pistols 263 

clumsy to stand this and it has a big recoil and a 
terribly loud report. 

As it is, at the first shot, all within hearing 
scuttle underground like rabbits, under the im- 
pression that an air raid is on. 

A full charge automatic pistol is such a nuisance 
in a pistol gallery, owing to its deafening noise, 
that nobody cares to use one there, and if he did, • 
he would very soon be asked by the other shooters 
to desist. 

Inventors vie with each other as to who can 
produce an automatic pistol having the most 
powerful cartridge, just as rifle inventors do. 

What is wanted is not a more powerful automa- 
tic pistol, the present ones are far too powerful, 
but a weak power, large bore one with an extremely 
light charge corresponding to the duelling pistol, 
that is to say, one shooting a round bullet of .44 
calibre with a very small charge of smokeless 
powder. 

Such a pistol would be an ideal weapon for 
shooting galleries and would popularize pistol 
practice, then pistol shooting would be a pleasure 
instead of a penance, when shooting has to be 
done indoors. 

The automatic pistol inventors should experi- 
ment as follows : 

The external lines should follow the Gastinne- 
Renette duelling pistol as nearly as possible. . 

The calibre and cartridge the same as it is («. e. } 
.44), the bullet being of lead, and spherical. 



264 The Modern Pistol 

The magazine of a size to take only this cartridge, 
as otherwise, if a heavy charge cartridge were 
introduced by mistake and fired, it would smash 
and perhaps burst the pistol. An automatic 
pistol made for the light charge would have too 
weak a recoil spring to withstand a heavy charge. 

The duelling pistol cartridge has the bullet 
•seated far down it, and there is a lot of spare useless 
length in the cartridge. 

In the automatic pistol I am advising to be 
made (the Winans model) , the cartridge should be, 
though of 44 calibre, very short, the round bullet 
crimped in the end of it, like the .22 bulleted cap 
cartridges. 

The cartridge being so short and the magazine 
made to fit, the usual high power cartridges would 
be too long to go into it by mistake. 

The sights should be those of the duelling pistol. 

I think such an automatic pistol would be much 
superior to any existing automatic pistol except 
for military purposes. 

As there would be no danger of putting in a 
higher power cartridge the pistol could be light- 
ened and balance better, all the weight possible 
being taken off the barrel and fore end, the barrel 
fluted, etc., so that the balance would be even 
better than in a duelling pistol, owing to its shorter 
barrel. 

It may be found that the barrel could be length- 
ened, so as to be longer between the sights, without 
spoiling the balance. 



Gallery Automatic Pistols 265 

As the gallery charge is so light, the recoil would 
be all expended in operating the mechanism — 
there would be no recoil left against the. hand. 

Most of the difficulties in designing automatic 
firearms are having to withstand the enormous 
pressure of modern cartridges. If you go back to 
a light pressure in the cartridge, all these difficul- 
ties vanish and all parts can be made light. 

Such a pistol ought easily to beat all existing 
rapid-fire revolver records, as good scores as those 
under duelling conditions should be made, in fact 
I think better scores, as there is no necessity to 
raise the hand after the first shot. 

With a Winchester .22 automatic rifle I can put 
the ten shots in three seconds into a two-inch bull 
at twenty yards, the only time spent is in getting 
the aim for the first shot, the other shots can be 
put in as fast as the trigger can be pressed, as 
there is no recoil, and therefore no time spent in 
getting a fresh aim for each shot. The .22 Colt 
long barrel automatic pistol (see Plate 4) fulfills 
most of these conditions, but a .44 gallery charge 
automatic pistol would be better. 



CHAPTER LII 

SHOOTING GALLERY 

Pistol shooting in competitions or for practice 
is conducted either under cover, in the open, or 
partly under cover. The latter is much the best 
way, so I will keep this to the last. 

An open-air range can only be installed in the 
country, away from buildings or annoyance to 
others. Even then it is not immune. Just before 
the war several rifle ranges in England were 
ordered to be closed because they inconvenienced 
golf players, and of course golf is much more 
important than shooting. 

The present automatic pistol with its heavy 
charge makes such a noise that it can only be shot 
in an open-air range, well away from houses. 
The objection to such a range is that it takes so 
long to get to. 

Instead of being able to fire a few shots at odd 
moments, as in Paris, a man who has a few minutes 
to spare must take a train into the country, wasting 
time and money getting there and back, and he 
can therefore only shoot if he has a whole afternoon 
free and "money to .burn." 
266 



Shooting Gallery 267 

It requires great keenness in pistol shooting to 
endure all the discomfort of waiting for trains, 
standing in the wet, etc., for the sake of a few 
minutes' shooting. 

The usual indoor range practice is even worse. 

It is true it is "only round the corner," and 
takes only a few minutes to get to, but. when you 
do get there ! ! ! 

The range is in a part of a building too dark 
and uncomfortable to be used for any other 
purpose. 

If a narrow underground dungeon is too bad for 
a wine or coal cellar, a brilliant idea strikes the 
owner of the property: "Why not turn it into a 
public shooting gallery, and make it pay?" 

The gallery is run on the pay, pay, always pay, 
and receive nothing, principle. 

The shooter pays for the pleasure of ruining his 
eyesight and ears, pays for the target, pays for the 
cartridges, pays for the hire of a dirty, greasy, worn 
out old revolver. 

However good a score he makes he receives no 
prize or encouragement. 

No wonder, after one such visit, the public 
gives the place a wide berth. 

The Gastinne-Renette Pistol Gallery at 39, 
Avenue d'Antin, Paris, is constructed and run as 
a pistol gallery should be. 

The first essential is to have it in a building well- 
lighted by daylight and airy, and where the neigh- 
bours will not object to the sound of firing. 



268 The Modern Pistol 

The ideal range is, as at Gastinne-Renette's, 
with the firing point covered and the range itself 
open to the air, but this is only possible under 
exceptional circumstances, and where gallery 
ammunition only is fired. 

I am strongly of the opinion that unless gallery 
ammunition is used exclusively, an indoor or semi- 
indoor range is inadmissible, otherwise the shoot- 
ing must, of necessity, be done in the country 
and in the open, with all its attendant incon- 
veniences. 

If the range is in an entirely closed gallery it 
should have plenty of top light (not artificial 
light), like a sculptor's studio, or be situated and 
lighted on the top floor of the house, like a photo- 
grapher's studio. 

Or it may be a long shed with windows down 
both sides. 

A riding school or a gymnasium having plenty 
of daylight might do. 

By the w y, although gymnastics do not need 
daylight (artificial light is just as good for 
them) , one never hears of a gymnasium in a coal 
cellar. 

It is only the shooter, who is a crank anyhow 
and not worth serious consideration, who has to 
put up with a coal cellar. 

It is difficult to get an indoor range large enough 
for practice at moving objects. 

So-called moving targets which run for a few 
feet are not moving targets at all. 



Shooting Gallery 269 

To learn shooting at moving objects they should 
go fast and for a reasonable distance, not less than 
ten yards, and the further they run, and the more 
varying the speed, the better. 



CHAPTER LIII 

THE GASTINNE-RENETTE GALLERY 

This gallery has been in existence for some 
seventy years and is constantly improved and it is 
the best gallery I know of in any country. In 
describing it I will be describing what an ideal 
shooting gallery should be like. 

The entrance is through a well-lighted daylight 
passage past the gunmaker's shop of the proprie- 
tor. A pistol can be bought or hired, or alteration 
made to the sights or trigger-pull of one's own pis- 
tol, on the spot. 

One then comes to a long, well -lighted gallery, 
with cupboards containing the pistols of the mem- 
bers and very accurate, well-kept pistols, for lend- 
ing to shooters who have not brought their own 
(see Plates 2 and 10.) 

Several pistol clubs, such as the " Le Pistol et" 
and the "St. George," shoot here on certain days, 
at which times the range is closed to the outside 
public. 

The gallery is heated by hot water pipes in 
winter. 

The secretary sits at a desk and sells the entry 
270 



The Gastinne-Renette Gallery 271 

tickets, gives the prizes (gold, silver, and bronze 
medals and plaques), and also keeps an accurate 
record of all winning scores made. 




PLATE 15. GASTINNE-RENETTE GALLERY 



hung with the framed targets 
the Grand Medaille d'Or and 



The walls are 
which have won 
other prizes. 

Two marble slabs, engraved with the names of 
the winners of the championship of each year, are 
by the mantelpiece where hangs the stuffed head 
of a Sika stag I shot with a duelling pistol. 



2-]2 The Modern Pistol 

One of the long sides of the gallery faces a 
blank wall in the open air about thirty yards 
distant. 

Along that side there are cubicles with glass 
doors facing this wall, and glass sliding doors 
opening into the gallery. 

Each cubicle has a loading table with drawers 
for cartridges, etc. 

These cubicles have transverse walls in pairs 
leading to this wall, so as to enable pairs of shooters, 
if they so desire, to shoot, without being disturbed 
by the rest of the shooters. 

The shooter goes with an attendant into one of 
the cubicles ; the door leading to the gallery is shut 
and the door on to the range is opened. 

The shooter can be seen from the gallery but he 
is not disturbed by people talking or coming near 
him. 

The assistant loads the pistols, works the met- 
ronome, keeps the score, etc. 

If the score is good enough to win a prize the 
assistant calls the secretary to see the target and 
verify the score and record it in his book before 
the shots are painted out. 

Paper targets shot at are brought to the secre- 
tary for verification and signed and kept by him. 

Over the top of these open-air passages down 
which the shooting takes place, wires are stretched 
to break the sound, so as not to annoy the neigh- 
bours. 

There are also sloping boards at intervals above, 



The Gastinne-Renette Gallery 273 




PLATE 16. GASTINNE-RENETTE GALLERY — FIRING POINTS 



so that a shot let off by accident cannot do any 
harm — the boards catch all wide bullets. 

The prizes are given on a gradually increasing scale 
of difficulty, so that nobody need be discouraged. 



274 The Modern Pistol 

The bronze medal for shooting at plaster figures 
at sixteen metres is easy enough for the most 
moderate pistol shot to win, he is thus encouraged 
to try for the silver medal at these figures, which 
is a little more difficult, and so on. 

No medal in any of the series can be won more 
than once. 

If a man wins the gold medal at that series at the 
first attempt he can still go in for the silver and 
bronze medals of that series, but, when he has 
won all three medals of a series, he can never 
compete in that series again, but of course can 
shoot for practice at them. 

Some series call for extreme accuracy and some 
for endurance, as that for breaking a hundred 
small plates in succession — rapid-firing — under 
duelling conditions. 

In Chapter XXXIII, I described the target 
used at Gastinne-Renette's Gallery for the three 
series for the Grand Medaille d'Or. 

There are no second prizes in these series. 

One gold medal is for twelve shots deliberate 
shooting with the .44 calibre duelling pistol. 

A similar one for the .44 calibre revolver, and 
also a similar one for the duelling pistol, shot 
under duelling conditions. 

All are shot at sixteen metres range (seventeen 
yards one foot). 

To win either of the first two gold medals all 
the twelve shots must be inside the first ring 
round the bull's-eye, that is inside (not cut- 



The Gastinne-Renette Gallery 275 

ting a ring of five bullets' diameter (2K inches). 

To win the third gold medal all the twelve 
shots must be inside, not cutting, the second ring 
round the bull's-eye, that is to say inside seven 
bullets' diameter (3.08 inches). 

This latter appears the most easy competition, 
but on the contrary whilst some forty or more have 
won the first two medals, only five have won the 
latter, during the seventy years. 

Chevalier Ira Paine is the only man who won 
both the first named gold medals. I do not think 
he tried for the third. In fact I have not seen or 
heard of any score of his shot under duelling 
conditions. 

I am the only one during the seventy years the 
competitions have been in existence who has won 
both the gold medals for rifle shooting at moving 
objects at this gallery, the Running Rabbit and 
the Running Man, about five have won either one 
or the other of these medals. 



CHAPTER LIV 

OPEN AIR RANGES 

A row of white squares, each with a black bull's- 
eye on it, and men aiming, aiming, and finally- 
letting off their pistols at them, is such a mistaken 
idea of learning pistol shooting. 

It is all so futile, so useless, except as a sport 
and a means of getting fresh air and relaxation. 

To occasionally put a series of shots very close 
together on a stationary target is interesting, and 
shows what a good pistol and men are capable of 
when working in harmony. But to consider this 
the sole object of pistol shooting is the greatest 
mistake. 

Rapid fire, the faster the better, is the essence 
of pistol shooting, the only practical use of it. 

Deliberate shooting is a game, a sport, and a 
very good sport, but it is neither practical pistol 
shooting or the way to learn it. 

An outdoor range gives the best practice, as 
figures can be put up at various distances and shot 
at in rapid fire, moving and disappearing targets 
can run in all directions, and come up unexpectedly 
like at a shotgun shooting school. 
276 



Open Air Ranges 277 

A shelter to shoot from under in wet or windy 
weather has the disadvantage of the noise from 
the shooting when full charges are shot, as is 
invariably the case in England. 

A corrugated roof gives a terrible echo. It is 
better to stand in the rain and wind rather than be 
deafened. 

Six hits in four seconds is the best I know of 
with a revolver when shooting at life size figures 
taken one after the other at distances varying 
from about fifteen to thirty yards. 

This can be beaten with an automatic pistol. 
With an automatic pistol it is a matter of finding 
the right speed to swing across the figures. 

A good open air pistol range can be made behind 
a rifle butt. 

Behind the big butt for a thousand yards' rifle 
shooting makes a very big butt for twenty-five 
yards' automatic pistol shooting and allows for 
swinging and moving targets on an ample scale. 

In an open air range great care must be taken 
to be very strict as to rules of safety. 

There becomes a tendency to walk down to the 
butt to examine a target without first giving 
warning; to walk about with some cartridges 
still in the pistol, etc. 

Things which would not be done in an indoor 
range seem to come natural to some men when in 
an out-of-doors range. 

Targets that can smash are the best. Plaster 
heads are much better to shoot at in rapid firing 



278 The Modern Pistol 

than to try and hit the six heads of wooden tar- 
gets. 

In the former case you see the debris of the 
smash as you pull the trigger and do not pause 
in your swing to the next target. 

If there is no smash to the shot but only a bullet 
hole, one is apt to hesitate after each shot to look 
for the bullet hole. 

It looks so much better and gives such a satis- 
factory feeling to instantly see the result of your 
shot. 

A row of plates or bottles placed at various 
distances and smashed one after the other very 
rapidly is much more of an encouragement than, 
after having tired without visible result, to be told 
ten minutes later that you have made all hits. 

There are small rubber balloons manufactured 
in France which can be filled with water. 

The balloons when empty pack in very little 
space. A small pump is sold with them, it can be 
regulated to deliver a pre-arranged quantity of 
water into each balloon, and then a twist at the 
neck of the balloon closes it. 

If the water is coloured with Condy's Fluid a 
hit looks very conspicuous and pretty when the 
balloon bursts on being struck. 

Have them thrown up to shoot at. Great care 
must be taken that the bullets go where they can 
do no harm. 

A full charge automatic pistol should not be 
used for this — a duelling pistol, having a smooth 



Open Air Ranges - 279 

bore barrel, and shooting No. 8 shot is good 
practice and can be shot where shooting a bullet 
would be dangerous. I have killed 44 out of 80 
live pigeons in this way. 

It is dangerous to shoot bullets at hard sub- 
stances. To shoot at a stone thrown up, a ginger 
beer, or a soda water bottle, may cause very 
dangerous ricochets. 



CHAPTER LV 

SHOOTING IN LITERATURE 

Most extraordinary ideas prevail amongst 
writers as to shooting in general and especially 
pistol shooting. 

One novelist makes his hero see "a flame 
zigzagging in the darkness," he, not troubling to 
ascertain who was carrying the light, friend or foe, 
without hesitation "drew his pistol, took an aim of 
a good thirty seconds' duration and fired straight 
at the flame." 

To aim "straight at " a moving object is the way 
to miss it, and if the aim is taken for thirty seconds 
the hand gets so shaky that a miss is certain, but 
most marvellous thing in literature, the hero does 
miss. 

Solomon said, "There is nothing new under the 
sun." He was wrong. The author who makes 
his hero miss is absolutely unique; in all other 
literature the hero never misses, none of Homer's 
heroes miss, nor does David miss Goliath nor 
William Tell miss the apple nor Robin Hood the 
deer. 

This unique hero takes an even longer aim, 
280 



Shooting in Literature 281 

later. He hears a horse galloping towards him and 
aims for ten minutes at a point two inches above 
where he expected the horse's head to appear 
round a rock. I suppose he aimed two inches 
high so as to allow for the fatigue to his arm dur- 
ing the ten minutes' aim, causing it to slightly sag 
down. 

I expect the next novel I read, the hero, know- 
ing his enemy will arrive in a month's time, will 
keep an aim well above the railway station till he 
arrives. 

Evidently the idea is the longer the aim the 
more accurate it is, forgetting that human muscles 
and eyesight tire, and that fast moving objects 
cannot be hit with a stationary aim. 

I have known a stag turn and go the opposite 
direction whilst a man was aiming at a tree he 
expected it to pass. 

It is amusing how, in a play, the hero after he 
has made the villain desist by pointing a revolver 
at him, contemptuously throws the revolver on 
the sofa and walks away. 

It never occurs to the author of the play, or the 
actor, that the villain would instantly seize hold of 
the pistol and turn the tables on the hero. 

After the hero has covered the villain with the 
pistol and has been applauded the "situation is 
over" so he throws away the revolver or puts 
it back in his pocket and there the incident ends. 

In one play the hero gives a loaded .44 revolver 
as a keepsake to a small child. 



282 The Modern Pistol 

This sort of thing is merely ridiculous and does 
no harm. 

But harm is done if an actor through ignorance 
shoots another actor. 

I have twice seen such an accident on the stage. 
Once a man blinded another in both eyes, and in 
the second case in one eye, by firing blank ammuni- 
tion right into the other's face at a few feet dis- 
tance. 

Men have been killed, one only a short time ago, 
by having the wad of blank ammunition shot into 
them. In one case the gun had several wads 
crimped hard into the shell so as to make a good 
loud bang when fired. 

One man in this play was supposed to come 
across his enemy, and as the latter fled, to shoot 
him. The actor, who I believe said he had never 
shot a gun before, put the muzzle against the other 
man's back when he fired and killed him. 

He had been told that it was blank ammunition 
and he thought it could do no harm. This is the 
cause of all such accidents. Being blank ammuni- 
tion it is considered to be harmless. 

Old ladies are laughed at when they scream and 
hold their ears when a man begins to "brandish " a 
revolver on the stage or poke about with a gun, 
with his finger on the trigger. But the old ladies 
are quite right to be alarmed. 

There is no knowing what may happen when a 
man ignorant of firearms, has one in his hands, even 
if it only has blank ammunition. 



Shooting in Literature 283 

A very favourite attitude with actors is to bang 
the butt of their rifle on the ground and then put 
both hands over the muzzle, but in this case if the 
rifle "explodes," it is only their own hands that 
they injure. 

For the safety of others this is the best thing they 
can do, before someone else gets hurt. 

Before being allowed to fire blank ammunition 
on the stage, a man should be properly instructed 
in the safe handling of firearms. 

Shooting blank ammunition on the stage is 
always a risky job. People are so huddled up, 
that it is difficult to appear to shoot at a man 
without shooting close enough to him to injure him. 

If the gun is fired over the man's head, it may 
set the flies on fire, burn the eyes of someone in a 
grand tier box, or the limelight man. 

It is a case of ' ' save me from my friends ' ' when a 
writer who is ignorant of shooting matters tries to 
extol someone's marksmanship. 

We read "the anti-aircraft guns at once began 
to bellow forth defiance. The shooting was 
wonderful and it was only the hardest luck that 
they did not wing an enemy. " 

As the number of shots is not mentioned and the 
element of luck introduced, it is not possible to 
analyse this shooting, but another writer is clearer. 
He says "he got within fifty yards, well within 
point blank range, and fired 117 shots and the 
enemy was then observed to be leaning forward, 
so it was apparent that he had been winged. " 



. 284 The Modern Pistol 

Now here we have all the facts necessary to 
work out a simple rule of three problem. 

As 117 shots are to one shot, so is fifty yards to 
X (the distance the adversary must be off to enable 
him to be winged, with a single shot). 

This makes X equal 15.381 inches. 

As to kill is about three times as difficult as to 
wing, divide by three, this gives 5.127 inches as the 
longest range at which it is possible to kill a man 
with a single shot, "which is absurd." Q.E. D. 

Another novel writer made use of one of my 
books very effectively to describe the duel, with all 
details correct, except that he made the distance 
between the duellists five yards, and they missed 
each other twice at this distance ! 

Allowing for each duellist three feet from where 
he stands to the end of the muzzle of his pistol 
they would have only three yards between the 
muzzles of their pistols. The writer must have 
either been unacquainted with French metric 
measures (I gave twenty-five meters as the duelling 
distance) or else he confused it with a sword duel. 



CHAPTER LVI 



GRIP 



There is a great variety of opinions as to the 
shape and size a pistol stock should have so as to 
give the best grip. 

As I have already mentioned, the grip which 
suits me best is that on the French duelling pistol. 
But what suits one man may not necessarily suit 
another. 

A smooth, mother-of-pearl stock is very slippery 
to me, but some think this gives the ideal grip. 

Some men have fat flabby perspiring hands, 
others have cold damp hands, both of these seem 
to be able to hold a mother-of-pearl grip comfort- 
ably, but they do not suit a man who has dry warm 
hands. 

In the revolver days I knew several men who 
could not grip the Smith & Wesson Russian 
model revolver comfortably. They said the stock 
was too small for them. Even the Colt stock, 
according to them, was too small. They, in con- 
sequence, induced the makers to supply Colt 
revolvers to suit "The English market" with 
enormously big stocks. 

285 



286 The Modern Pistol 

Now these very men who found the normal 
stocks too small did not have abnormally large 
hands. It was that they held their pistols with 
much too rigid a grip. 

Some men have special stocks made so that 
they "can get a firm grip. " 

Some of them even go to the length of putting 
India rubber tennis racket grips over the pistol 
stocks. I have tried shooting one of their pistols 
so ornamented (?) and found it was like trying to 
shoot with a big potato held in my fist. 

Others, in order to obtain this "firm grip," 
smear the stock of their pistol over with wet model- 
ling clay, take a grip of it and then have a plaster 
cast made of their finger prints in this clay and 
get a stock cast from this. When they hold this 
monstrosity with their fingers embedded in it, 
they claim to have a perfect hold. 

The idea they are working for is an entirely 
wrong one. The pistol should be held as a fencing 
foil, lying in the palm of the hand. Because the 
left hand gets burnt when many shots are fired in 
rapid succession from a rifle or gun, a hand guard 
was invented which slips over to the fore end of the 
gun and protects the left hand from contact with 
the hot barrels. 

It was also claimed that, having to hold this 
guard made the shooter always hold his hand in 
the same place, and that this was a great advan- 
tage. 

The rigid grip on a fixed spot is, as a matter 



Grip 287 

of fact, a disadvantage. It caused me to give up 
this hand guard and substitute an asbestos glove 
for the left hand. 

In game shooting with a rifle, or gun, one shifts 
the left hand constantly, according to the angle 
of the rifle or gun to your shoulder. For a high 
shot the left hand is thrust forward, for a low 
shot the hand drawn back. 

To sit down and shoot off the knees, the left 
hand is much further back on the rifle than if you 
stand up to shoot off hand. 

If you find yourself shooting under, you shift 
the left hand forward for the next shot so as to 
shoot higher. 

You cannot do all these niceties (which make all 
the difference between first class shooting, and 
merely good shooting) if your left hand is tied to 
one place. The same applies to pistol shooting. 

The pistol should not be held in a "firm grip" 
as these inventors of potato-shaped stocks imagine. 

A fencer does not keep a "firm grip, " nor does a 
shotgun man. 

All have their weapons lying in the palms of the 
hands loosely and easily, the grip of the foil is only 
tightened momentarily for parrying or thrusting 
and the game shot handles a rifle or shotgun as 
lightly as a woman nursing a baby. 

A pistol stock which has all the fingers embedded 
in it stops all wrist play. It may answer for a long 
aim at a stationery target but for any rapid shoot- 
ing it is impossible. 



288 The Modern Pistol 

How can a man draw and shoot in one movement 
if he has to fit his fingers first into each hollow 
excavated in the stock? He might as well try to 
pull on a glove each time before he draws his 
pistol. 

If he gets the hold the least wrong he will miss 
and rxrobably also get his hand cut. 

How can a man cock or slip on the safety bolt if 
he first has to take his thumb out of the "dug out " 
in which it has taken refuge? He will most likely 
fumble the whole thing and drop the pistol. 

Very many pistol inventions are the result of a 
man who, shooting for the first time, discovers 
difficulties merely due to his own clumsiness and 
inexperience, and instead of consulting a pistol 
shot, invents something to overcome these imagin- 
ary difficulties. 

I have actually seen such an inventor shooting 
in a competition with an iron rod up his sleeve 
attached to his pistol "to keep his arm steady. " 

An inventor came to me with something he said 
would stop all runaway horses, and was very angry 
with me because I would not try it on one of mine, 
although I told him mine were properly broken 
horses, not runaways. 

The invention consisted of two India rubber 
bags which, un-inflated, were to be put inside 
the nostrils of the horse. 

If there was any difficulty in stopping the 
horse, a pair of bellows was worked, attached to a 
rubber tube connecting these bags to the driver. 



Grip 289 

This inflated the bags, and the horse, according 
to the inventor, "at once comes to a standstill.' 

I told the inventor that a horse thus choked 
would throw himself about, and cause a fearful 
smash before he died. He probably thought, 
"what lack of imagination" horsemen have. 

A wooden or vulcanite stock with a small clean- 
cut file pattern so as to give a non-slip hold is 
good. 

A too small grip has the fault of driving the 
nails into the ball of the thumb; it should be just 
thick enough to avoid this, any thicker would be 
clumsy. 

An ivory stock is heavy, but this may be an 
advantage if there is weight needed in the stock to 
counterbalance the barrel, otherwise ivory gives a 
good grip, if roughed. 

The depth of the roughing depends on the ten- 
derness of the hand of the shooter. 

A roughing which would make one man's hand 
sore is hardly enough of a non-slip hold for a man 
whose skin is harder. 

Sometimes screw heads and pins are not quite 
flush with the stock and may chafe the hand. 

They and any roughness left on screw heads by 
the unskilful use of the screw driver should be 
filed down smooth. 

A sore hand which gets hurt at each shot is very 
detrimental to good shooting and the shooter is 
constantly trying to get a fresh grip in order to 
save his hand. 



290 The Modern Pistol 

Automatic pistols have almost universally a 
projection over the hand between the thumb and 
the trigger finger for the slide to work on. 

This turns the stock into a ' ' saw handle ' ' which 
used to be common on English duelling pistols. 

I have tried such a stock with very good results 
on a revolver, but it is in the way of one-handed 
cocking. 

An objection to a "saw handle" is that it com- 
pels the grip to be always taken in the same place, 
and as I said before, the grip should be movable 
higher or lower, according as you find you are 
shooting too low or too high. 

A little rosin ground fine and rubbed on the stock 
and hand gives a good non-slip grip if the stock is 
greasy or slippery. 

Do not shoot with gloves on. It destroys the 
sensitiveness of the hand, especially the trigger 
finger. I am always afraid of being shot by 
accident when a man shooting next me wears 
gloves, especially the slippery so-called "chamois 
skin" ones. 



CHAPTER LVII 

TRICK SHOOTING 

"Champion Shot" shooting on the stage must 
not be taken too seriously. 

"No one can keep on shooting at small objects 
on a man's head or held between his fingers without 
an occasional bad shot, and if it misses by only 
half an inch, such a miss may cause the death 
of the assistant. 

Unavoidable sources of accident are, a weak 
cartridge giving a low shot ; a hang fire, or, as in one 
fatal accident, the rifle blows open, lowering the 
muzzle and the bullet entering the assistant's 
forehead. 

Aiming to graze the top of the ball minimizes 
this risk but does not eliminate it. 

A miss too high does not matter, but a miss too 
low means death to the assistant. 

Managers of theatres are now very chary, 
since this accident, of employing "Artistes" who 
do real shooting. It is too dangerous and the 
police will not allow it. All sorts of ways to mini- 
mize risk are employed. When objects are held 
to be shot at, steel thimbles over forefinger and 
thumb are concealed under a glove. 
291 



292 The Modern Pistol 

A steel skullcap fitting down to the eyebrows 
with a rod some four inches long projecting from 
the top is employed to hold the ball, the steel skull- 
cap concealed under a wig with low fringe of hair 
to cover the forehead. This is worn by a woman 
assistant, her high piled up head serving to hide 
the rod. 

There are several other reasons for employing a 
woman assistant instead of a man. 

It looks so much more effective to shoot things 
off a woman's head or fingers; and she can wear 
long gloves in evening dress without exciting sus- 
pic : on that she has steel gauntlets concealed under 
them. 

When well arranged, the ball, two inches in dia- 
meter, and the aim taken to graze the top of the 
ball, a miss must be fully eight inches too low to 
do any damage to the assistant when she wears a 
steel skullcap down to her eyebrows under her 
wig of piled up hair. 

Some do not even risk that, but, by an arrange- 
ment of a steel plate connected with a lever below 
it, and the whole hidden behind the "back cloth, " 
the shot is fired at the plate a foot higher than the 
assistant's head; this plate forces the bottom of 
the lever, armed with a spike, forward. The spike 
breaks the ball and immediately returns out of 
sight through the "back cloth." 

Some natural object is painted on the scene over 
this hidden target for the shooter to aim at. 

I give below a few exhibition shoots, ranging 



Trick Shooting 293 

from real shooting, through "assisted" shooting 
down to "trick" shooting, and simple conjuring 
tricks. 

The reader, if asked to shoot for a charity bazaar 
or to amuse people at a village fete, can choose 
from this list, according to the rigidity or elasticity 
of his conscience "in the cause of charity. " And 
charity covers a multitude of sins. 

It is curious how one never can tell what will be 
a success with the public. 

A really difficult feat fails to impress the audi- 
ence and a simple easy shot "brings down the 
house. " What must be constantly borne in mind 
is that you must never make a bad shot, that spoils 
the whole thing. 

You can cover up your mistakes sometimes. 

If you hit the ace of hearts, have it handed round 
to the audience and go on to the next item. If a 
shot is encored do not repeat, go on with your 
programme. 

To do something well and then, trying to repeat 
it, to make a miss, is a fatal mistake. 

If your first shot at the ace of hearts just misses 
the heart by a shade, this does not matter. 

Keep on shooting and make a good group "all 
cutting into one hole" and hand it round to the 
audience, thus covering up the traces of the bad 
first shot. 

Stop shooting as soon as the hole cuts well 
into the pip. If you try one shot too many and 
get it clear of the "all shots into one hole" then 



294 The Modern Pistol 

you have made a fearful blunder — a three shot 
group is ample. 

Never attempt anything which you are not able 
to do easily. To make a lot of easy shots without 
a mistake is far preferable than to try difficult shots 
with one or two failures. 

If you can trust your nerve it is as well to keep 
the most difficult shot to the last, so as not to have 
an anticlimax. As a climax (if your conscience 
will permit you), give one or two "assisted" 
shots, so as to end brilliantly. 

Always practise on the actual stage and with 
the same lighting as you will have to shoot under, 
when giving the exhibition. 

If you do not do this you may find the light 
different, or so bad that you will not be able to do 
yourself justice. 

A stage open to the sky, is, on a calm day, best 
of all, but there is the risk of a wind springing up. 
Always shoot on a stage elevated above the spec- 
tators so that all can see, and have the sun at your 
back. 

On an open air stage you can finish as follows : 

Have an old-fashioned .44 Winchester, black 
powder, repeating rifle. These can still be picked 
up at second-hand gunmakers' shops. 

Get cartridges for it loaded with No. 10 shot. 

Have a lot of the rubber balls filled with water. 

It looks most effective if the water is of various 
colours for alternate balls. 

Get an assistant to throw them straight up as 



Trick Shooting 295 

high as he possibly can, and break them in suc- 
cession. 

With practice you can break them as fast as he 
can possibly throw them. 

The higher and straighter up he throws them 
the easier they are to break and yet the more 
effective they look. 

The stop butt should be an iron box with a 
back sloping downwards, away from you, at an 
angle of forty-five degrees, deflecting the bullets 
into a tray full of sand. 

Some "numbers" for the programme (range 
fifteen feet) I give below. 

Put a playing-card up edgewise horizontally and 
cut it in half. 

Be sure the background is such that you can see 
the white edge of the card against it. 

If you get your elevation just right, the card 
will be cut. 

Use a .44 calibre bullet in all shooting, as that 
gives you more leeway in case you are a little 
wrong in your elevation. 

This is the most difficult shot of all and should 
not be repeated. 

The same shot with the card vertical. 

This is slightly easier, as one is less apt to miss 
horizontally than vertically. 

The "assistance" in this shot is to have the 
card as much out of dead edge on to you, as the 
audience will stand without detecting it. 

Unless a spectator is absolutely behind the 



296 The Modern Pistol 

shooter and looking over his right shoulder he 
cannot see if the card is not absolutely dead edge 
on. 

The duffer's way of doing this shot is to fire dust 
shot instead of a bullet. 

Hitting the ace of hearts I have already de- 
scribed. 

To hit several pips on one card is very difficult. 
It takes really good shooting even at the five yards' 
range to hit the six pips in succession on the six 
hearts. 

Also this cannot be "assisted " in any way unless 
you fluke one pip when shooting at another with 
the .22 Colt target automatic pistol (or see Plate 4). 
When the "gallery ammunition" automatic pis- 
tol is invented air filled rubber balls can be put 
in a row and broken in quick succession. In 
' ' assisted ' ' shooting they are made of dark rubber 
with a minute white bull's-eye painted on each, 
and the balls stand in recesses in a screen of the 
same colour as themselves, so that all but the white 
spot is invisible. 

To the uninitiated it looks as if it is the minute 
white bull's-eyes which are hit. 

If the air balls are large, the shooting is very easy. 
If shot is used instead of bullets any one can do 
this trick but the balls must be far enough apart 
to avoid breaking two or more balls at one shot. 

To snuff a candle if the wick is aimed at requires 
quick shooting as more than a momentary aim at 
the wick dazzles the eyes. 



Trick Shooting 297 

It is better to put the candle in a candlestick 
and cut the candle to a predetermined length, 
and have the pistol sighted to shoot that much too 
high. 

The aim is then taken at the bottom of the 
candle in order that the bullet hits the wick, and 
therefore there is no glare in the eyes from the 
flame. 

The "assisted " way of doing this shot is to have 
a pair of bellows with nozzle curved at right angles, 
the side of the bellows towards you made of steel, 
the nozzle pointed at the candle wick, behind the 
candle, of course concealed so that when the back- 
ground is struck the bellows blow the candle 
out. 

I give a number of other shots and other infor- 
mation on exhibition shooting in my Art of Revolver 
Shooting to which I refer the reader if interested in 
such shooting. 

A most sensational looking shot is a purely 
"assisted" one. 

It is to break two air balls simultaneously with a 
pistol in each hand. The balls are placed some 
two inches apart. One pistol is loaded with dust 
shot, the other with blank ammunition, or even, 
if the shot charge makes a lot of noise and 
smoke, the second pistol need not be loaded at 
all. 

Holding the pistol loaded with shot in the right 
hand, the other in the left hand, aiming between 
the balls with the one loaded with shot and hold- 



298 The Modern Pistol 

ing the other alongside it, pull both triggers 
together, breaking both balls with the pistol loaded 
with shot. 

Tunes are played on a target so arranged that 
hitting plates either makes the plates ring, or else 
the plates drive back and strike bells. 

These plates are large so as to be easily hit, but 
the exhibition is "assisted" by small bull's-eyes 
on each plate and the audience think these latter 
are alone hit. 

The tunes are usually played with several 
' ' pump ' ' repeating .22 rifles, the rifles being changed 
at each pause in a bar in the tune that the band 
plays. 

Winchester .22 Automatic rifles are better, 
though T have never seen a professional use them. 
The automatic needs only trigger pressure and 
turns and quick runs can be played with it. 

When the gallery charge, automatic pistol 
arrives, it will be possible to use it in the same way 
for playing tunes. The clips can be dropped out 
and a fresh one inserted when the tune gives a 
pause of a bar, care being taken not to fire the 
last shot, but let it carry on the first cartridge of 
the new clip, as I have explained earlier. 

The plates should be so arranged as to show 
the "black notes" like a piano does, otherwise it is 
difficult to play tunes having sharps, flats or 
accidentals, if all the notes look alike. 

I saw a "bandmaster" (?) at a village horse- 
show overcome this difficultv of his drum and 



Trick Shooting 299 

file band by allowing the "band" to ignore the 
black notes and to substitute naturals for all 
sharps and flats; the effect was very fine and 
greatly applauded ! 



CHAPTER LVIII 

THE DEVILLIERS BULLET 

Dr. Devilliers has patented a spherical bullet, 
made of a secret composition, which is shot out of 
pistols with only the fulminate of the cap to propel 
it. 

It cannot be used in an automatic pistol loaded 
through the magazine as there is no recoil to oper- 
ate the mechanism, but it can be shot from a 
magazine pistol if used as a single loader. 

It is primarily intended for a duelling pistol and 
can be used in revolvers. 

The idea is to have a bullet which can be used 
in competitions under real duelling conditions 
against live opponents instead of at targets. 

The pistol barrel has to be kept cold. When it 
gets hot after a few shots, the bullet will partly melt 
and get soft and then it does not take the rifling. 

The usual way is to have a sort of champagne 
cooler full of ice and to ice the loaded pistols for a 
few T minutes before shooting them. 

The bullet strikes with considerable force, 
enough if not protected against to put out an eye 
or injure the throat if struck. 
300 



The Devilliers Bullet 



301 



I have had several painful grazes on the arm 
from these bullets going up my sleeve and I also 
shot out a piece of skin between the forefinger 
and thumb of the pistol hand of my opponent the 
first time I fired one of them. 




PLATE 17. 



SHIELD ON DUELLING PISTOL WITH GUARD FOR 
DEVILLIERS BULLET 



He fired a shade sooner than I and was lowering 
his pistol when my bullet struck his hand, the 
skin being stretched tight on the stock of his pistol, 
the bullet cut a semicircular notch out of his 
hand. 

Since then a thin steel shield is fixed on the 



302 The Modern Pistol 

pistol just in front of the trigger guard so that the 
hand is entirely protected when aiming (see Plate 
17) I patented similar shield on a soldier's rifle to 
protect his usually exposed left hand, and also to 
partially protect his head, when shooting. 

Do not shoot at any one at a shorter range than 
twenty metres (twenty-one yards two feet) ; the 
blow from the bullet at twenty metres is not too 
severe if the shooter is properly protected. 

It is useless for practice to shoot at a longer 
range than twenty metres as the bullet rapidly 
loses its accuracy beyond that distance. 

Wear goggles fitted in a fencing mask, the 
goggles of thick strong pebble glass or of triplex 
safety glass (which is lighter). 

The fencing mask fitted with heavy goggles is 
very cumbersome. I think an aviator's cap and 
triplex glass goggles is ample protection except 
that the throat must also be well protected by a 
thick leather stock as strong as a saddle flap. 

A blow on the throat may do serious damage. 

I had a bullet come through a too thin leather 
stock and hit my throat. 

I do not think the body need be protected except 
by a piece of leather low over the abdomen and 
this can be worn under the trousers. 

It is as well to wear old clothes or a thin black 
blouse as the bullets leave greasy marks. 

The object of having the blouse black is that 
the bullet marks should be more easily seen by the 
umpire, and scored. 



The Devilliers Bullet 303 

Wear as tight fitting things as you can as long 
as your right arm is free, it gives your opponent a 
smaller target to score on. If he hits some flapping 
part of your blouse it scores him a hit even if it 
did not touch your body. 

In shooting in a competition it may be as well 
to stand sideways so as to give the opponent as 
small a target as possible, but in a real duel stand- 
ing sideways increases the risk of being killed if 
struck. Always have a. doctor present, as a 
wound from this bullet may be septic if not 
properly dressed at once. 

In a real duel a bullet, if the chest is hit when 
facing the adversary, only goes through one lung, 
whereas if the man struck is standing sideways 
the bullet will pierce both his lungs and so make 
recovery from the wound much more doubtful. 

In winter be very careful that the bullets do not 
freeze, if frozen they penetrate deeply. 

The bullets are loaded into the special cartridges 
as follows : 

The cartridge must not contain any powder. 

The bullet must not be squeezed into the cart- 
ridge, this would distort it as it is soft. 

The bullet must be very lightly inserted in the 
cartridge. 

Open the pistol, keeping the muzzle elevated, 
insert the cartridge in the breech, lower the muzzle, 
put on the cap and close the pistol. 

The inventor recommends that only the special 
cartridges of his invention be used, these have 



304 The Modern Pistol 

no cap but only a nipple, and you do not put the 
cap on till the cartridge is in the breech of the 
pistol. 

Competitions take place with this bullet as in an 
actual duel, the shooting is in pairs until only one 
competitor remains, the one of each pair who hits 
his opponent first is the winner of that pair. 

The bullets hit too hard for it to be an amuse- 
ment suitable for ladies. 

Great care must be taken to be sure to shoot 
Devilliers bullets and not lead bullets, by mistake. 

They are useful for galloping practice on horse- 
back, shooting at an air balloon fixed to posts, 
where lead bullets would be dangerous to use. 

The cartridges can be reloaded and used many 
times. 

When the cartridge has been fired there may 
be difficulty in removing the exploded cap. A 
wire pushed into the cap through the mouth of the 
cartridge dislodges the cap, but care must be 
taken that the cap is an exploded one. 

These bullets are very apt to ricochet from 
walls so spectators must take care. 

A canvas sheet hung loosely behind each shooter 
is the best stop-butt, as it gives to the blow of the 
bullet and stops ricochets. A bullet once fired is 
too distorted to use again. 



CHAPTER LIX 

KILLING INJURED ANIMALS 

Unless in the hands of a very skilful shot the 
pistol is most unsuitable for killing injured animals 
with. 

They will probably be hit many times before a 
vital spot is struck and so be horribly tortured. 

This remark applies especially to small animals 
like cats and dogs. 

The best weapon for this purpose is a 12 -bore 
shotgun loaded with No. 5 shot but even as small 
as No. 7 shot is very deadly if fired at a range of 
not more than four or five feet off. 

With the shotgun a shot directed behind the 
ear into the top of the neck kills instantly. 

The forehead shot is not suitable for a shotgun 
on large animals as the strength of skull prevents 
the shot penetrating, and the animal is only 
stunned . 

With a pistol the spot to hit is between the eyes 
where the hair curls in the middle of the forehead 
in horses. 

It is better to hit too high than too low in the 
forehead shot as a low shot misses the brain. 

Load both barrels of the shotgun and be ready 

20 3°5 



306 The Modern Pistol 

to fire the second barrel instantly if the horse does 
not collapse at once at the first shot. 

The head shot at a few yards off is the place to 
shoot a cat or dog with the shotgun but do not 
attempt to shoot them with a pistol unless you are 
a good shot, able to shoot into the ace of hearts 
at five yards' distance, aim at the top of the head, 
or you may break the jaw instead of killing the 
animal. 

People have sometimes been wrongly prosecuted 
and convicted for torturing a dog when they were 
trying to kill it instantly and painlessly, but lacked 
the skill and nerve. 

When an animal is in pain, especially if it is cry- 
ing out and struggling, a man is very apt to lose 
his nerve and be unable to kill it properly, but will 
strike wildly. 

In killing an animal, in order to do it as pain- 
lessly as possible, it is necessary to treat the matter 
quite calmly and in what looks to be a cold-blooded 
manner, and to know the vital spots. 

Decide the exact spot to shoot at, heart or brain, 
and hit it in that exact spot and be ready to repeat 
the shot, if the animal is not instantly dead. 

With a horse I find it is best to put some hay or 
grass down in front of it, and when it puts its 
head down, with its forehead vertical, it gives a 
good chance to shoot. There is no use trying to 
pull the horse's head into position and get strug- 
gling with it. To shoot a horse, do not use a pistol 
of smaller calibre than .44 with full charge. 



Killing Injured Animals 307 

If properly done the horse feels no pain. 

If several horses have to be shot, do not let 
them see each other shot, or see the dead bodies or 
smell them. 

A shotgun cannot be used in a crowd, nor for 
that matter can a pistol. 

As soon as a horse is injured everyone runs up to 
enjoy the sight and they crowd round, so great care 
must be taken not to shoot until the people are 
cleared away from the line of fire. 
' If possible get the horse into a yard with a high 
wall round it before shooting and be sure boys are 
not perched on the wall. 

I saw a man kill a small dog instantly as soon as 
it was run over by a motor car by picking it up and 
dislocating its neck by stretching, like wounded 
hares and rabbits are killed. 

But this requires great skill, knack, and nerve. 

Otherwise not only would the dog be further 
tortured but he would bite. 

Nobody can understand his fellow creatures or 
be judged by them. Each human being from birth 
to death is absolutely alone, everyone is mis- 
understood as to his motives and thoughts, he is as 
separated from others, even when in a crowd, as 
if the Atlantic Ocean were between them. 

He is praised for what does not deserve praise, 
and blamed for what he is not guilty of. 

He cannot understand why another finds 
pleasure in what he himself hates. 

One man likes to get soaking wet crawling all 



308 The Modern Pistol 

day to shoot a stag, which another thinks is folly, 
as a stag already shot, can so much easier and 
cheaper be bought at the poulterer's shop. 

I cannot understand the pleasure of sitting up 
all night playing cards, smoking and drinking, 
when it is much more comfortable to be sleeping 
in bed; another man thinks cards, drink, and 
gambling Heaven on earth. 

To give an instance of how one's motives can 
be misunderstood: 

A poor old worn-out white horse, after struggl- 
ing on slippery cobble-stones to pull a cart load of 
stones, fell and could not get up again. 

An eager crowd at once collected watching 
the owner thrashing the horse over the head and 
kicking it. 

The horse was struggling desperately to rise and 
kept falling and groaning and was bleeding at the 
mouth where the man was kicking it. 

I rushed up to remonstrate. A man, a stranger 
to me, called out "I can't stand this, let us buy 
the horse between us. " 

The owner of the horse made us pay much more 
than the horse was worth. 

We got a vet. who said the horse was so injured 
that it must be killed, so he killed it. 

Next day a paragraph appeared in the local 
paper. 

Two well-known visitors to our beautiful town 
performed a very graceful act yesterday. 



Killing Injured Animals 309 

A poor man lost his horse, his faithful dumb friend 
who had been his constant help and companion for 
years. These kind gentlemen took compassion on the 
hard lot of this man in his grief and presented him 
with a handsome sum to buy himself a new horse. 



The brute made quite a good thing of it, as the 
paragraph brought him various sums from sym- 
pathisers, and he was able to buy a heavier whip, 
and a stronger pair of boots, and a new horse, to 
thrash and kick. 

Possibly the historian who wrote that Nero 
fiddled whilst Rome was burning was mistaken and 
poor old Nero was doing his best telephoning for 
the County Council Motor fire-escapes to come 
and save the Christians fiom the burning houses. 

I misunderstand others. I did not appreciate a 
man's piety when he refused to help me rescue a 
dying horse because it was Sunday. 

The best instrument of all for killing injured 
horses is what is obligatory in all Belgian slaughter 
houses, not only for cattle but for sheep and pigs. 
(See Plate 18.) 

It consists of a short pistol barrel of .38 bore with 
a bell-shaped muzzle which is applied to the fore- 
head of the animal to be slaughtered. 

A tap with a mallet fires it and the bullet goes 
through the brain and spinal column of the neck 
causing instant death. Its fault is that it may go 
off by accident if dropped on its plunger. 

No Belgian race or horse-show can begin till a 



310 The Modern Pistol 

veterinary is present with this instrument, to be 
used in case of accident. 

One can do very little to alleviate the torture of a 
horse standing with a broken leg, or lying with a 
broken back in the London streets, owing to the 
regulations. 



MEDULLA 



THE GREENER KILLER 



This illustration clearly shows the position in which the Killer 
should be placed. It is advisable to have the barrel in a line 
with the pith, but so long as the "medulla " is pierced, instan- 
taneous death is assured. 



Thrice, within a few months, I have stood by a 
horse for hours unable to do anything for it, but to 
put a rug over it as it was shivering so from the 



Killing Injured Animals 311 

cold (having been injured when in a profuse sweat), 
and moisten its mouth. 

I was not allowed to kill the horse, only a 
licensed slaughterer is allowed to do that, and then 
only if the owner can be found, and gives his con- 
sent for the horse to be killed. 

I have since seen one of the principal horse- 
slaughterers of London and got his telephone num- 
ber, and arranged with him to send immediately 
to any part of London, at any time of the day or 
night, if I telephone to him. 

But even then if we cannot communicate with 
the owner of the horse we will have to stand doing 
nothing, possibly for hours, beside the suffering 
animal. 

The poor old worn-out, half -starved horses in 
London are not only worked to death, but when 
injured, they are not even allowed to die, without 
further torture. 

There is another form of humane killer which I 
am not able to endorse, although the Royal 
Society for the Prevention of Cr deity to Animals 
seem to think highly of it. 

I refer to the instrument which consists of a 
pistol fixed at right angles to a pole called, I believe, 
the Humane Killer. 

The pistol is fired by pulling a wire which runs 
down the pole to the hand. 

I consider this instrument very dangerous to use 
for slaughtering animals but it would be very 
useful in trench warfare. 



312 The Modern Pistol 

An ordinary firearm is dangerous enough if it 
happens to be pointed in the direction of the 
spectators. But what will be thought of a pistol 
which, when you carefully keep what corresponds 
to the barrel (i. e. , the pole) from pointing at any- 
one, you find it shoots at right angles to your 
aim. 

Several of us stood round a man demonstrating 
the operation of this weapon when unloaded. I 
said to him, "You cannot bring that pistol on to 
the forehead of that stuffed ox's head without point- 
ing it at one of us during the process. " 

He was not able to do so. Each time he tried 
one of us called out, "You are pointing it at me." 

I will explain by analogy the reason of this 
difficulty. 

Some men, in defiance of the conventions, cut 
cheese into small cubes, stick their knife into 
them and convey the cheese into their mouths, 
without cutting their mouths, and acquire great 
skill by long practice. 

Take a sharp knife-blade, fasten it firmly at right 
angles to the handle, and ask an expert cheese 
eater to cut cubes of cheese and transfer them to his 
mouth with this safety (?) knife. He will cut his 
mouth before he has eaten half a dozen pieces of 
cheese. • 






CHAPTER LX 

COMPETITIONS 

The duelling clubs at Gastinne-Renettes' have 
very practical and interesting competitions. 

These clubs exist for duelling practice, there is no 
shooting with deliberate aim to make highest possi- 
ble scores, all is conducted on actual duelling lines. 

The word duel means single combat, so all 
these competitions are conducted in pairs, the 
winners again competing in pairs and so on till 
finally only one remains, as in cock-fighting. 

Each participant in such a pool, when putting 
down his name, pays a nominal sum which goes to 
provide a medal for the winner. 

In order that each competitor shall compete 
against each other competitor, there are printed 
scoring-cards on the lines of longitude and latitude 
in maps, so that by running the finger down the 
list of names and then at right angles down the 
spaces for results, it can instantly be seen when 
any particular pair must compete and at which 
target each will stand. 

. Each competitor alternately stands to the right 
or to the left of whoever is his opponent. 
3*3 



3 H The Modern Pistol 

Only the pistols supplied by the range are 
allowed to be used, and these are given so that 
each shooter uses each pistol in turn and as all are 
purposely varied as to trigger-pull it requires a 
really good shot to win. He never knows if he is 
going to have a light or heavy trigger-pull. 

This is the chief difficulty in these competitions, 
as also in actual duels. When a pair of competi- 
tors are each facing a separate man target, the 
director of the combat gives the word "Attention, 
feu, un, deux, trois. " 

If they both hit anywhere on the figure, the one 
who fired first is the winner of that pair. 

It is usual to have a timer, to decide who fired 
first. 

The director cannot fulfil both offices effectually. 

After all have fired in pairs, each with each of 
the other competitors, the totals are added up and 
the one who has won the most combats is the 
winner of the medal. 

If two or more have an equal score then these 
again shoot against each other to decide the 
winner of the medal. 

It is not good scoring but quick hitting which wins. 

A good hit counts no more than a bad one; a 
hit in faster time than the other shot, wins. 

Winners are not the same men who win at 
deliberate shooting. Target shots seldom win, 
it is the lightning quick shot who wins, even if he 
cannot hit a smaller target than one eighteen 
inches broad by five feet high. 






Competitions 315 

The whole art of this shooting is to be able to 
keep from missing by more than three inches either 
side of your aim, not caring what your trigger-pull 
is, or how it varies for each shot. 

As to elevation, that needs no attention; you 
cannot miss over or under a five-foot target. 

Bring up at top speed putting all the attention 
on not jerking to the side should your trigger-pull 
happen to be one of the heavy ones ; aim slightly 
more to the right than the actual centre of the 
figure to allow for an occasional pull to the left 
with an extra heavy trigger-pull. 

It is the very hard pulling pistols which give 
almost all the misses. 

Men in constant practice in such competitions 
are in the best training for a duel or for self- 
protection. 

With Clubs which use the Devilliers bullet the 
competitions are conducted on exactly similar 
lines, except that the competitors fire at each other 
instead of at iron targets. 

Theoretically this is even better practice. It 
gets a man used to seeing his adversary actually 
before him and being able to study his movements 
and note if he is active, and try to be a shade the 
quicker of the two. 

The inaccuracy of the Devilliers bullet as com- 
pared to the lead bullet (with a powder charge) 
is a great disadvantage. 

You feel that there is an element of fluke in the 
shooting. You may make a very good shot and 



3i6 The Modern Pistol 

the bullet being too soft or the barrel too hot that 
bullet does not take the rifling properly and gives 
you an unmerited miss. 

Seeing your adversary raise his arm as you 
do yours and trying to anticipate his let-off by 
hitting him before he can hit you, is the great 
advantage of the Devilliers bullet as training 
for a duel. 

In snapping practice with an empty pistol, it is 
well to practice facing your reflection in a mirror 
to get used to the adversary's arm rising. 

When first trying it this necessity to get used to 
anticipating your adversary's movements is very 
apparent, a man who can shoot very quickly and 
coolly at an iron target when standing side by 
side with his opponent does not see the other man, 
he is thinking only of time. 

When facing his opponent and shooting at him 
he watches his opponent's hand and tries to time 
him, that is to say fire just before the moment 
his adversary's arm is absolutely level to shoot, 
just as you time a pigeon out of a trap for when he 
is well clear and yet before he can make his dart. 

A well-known pigeon shot said, " I do not under- 
stand all this talk about easy and difficult birds, all 
birds are easy if you time them right. " 

The same with duelling, if you take your 
opponent just before he can get his swing on to you 
he is properly "timed" and "an easy bird." 



CHAPTER LXI 



POLICE PISTOLS 



I modelled a statuette of a mounted cowboy 
and gave it as a challenge trophy to be shot for 
with revolvers, open to all citizens of the United 
States. 

It was won first by Dr. Louis Bell, then after 
two others had won it, it was finally won in 1894 
by Roundsman Petty of the New York Police 
Force, who twice successfully defended his title 
to it, and thus it became his own property. 

Since then the police in several states have 
regular police competitions. 

I also gave a statuette modelled by myself as a 
challenge pistol trophy to the State of Maryland 
(my native state). 

For years I tried to induce the police authorities 
of London, England, to let me give a challenge cup 
for the police to shoot for, but without success, till, 
by perseverance, I, in 191 5, induced them to do so. 

In 191 7 an automatic pistol won it, till then 
it was shot for only with revolvers. 

I am sure the better the police can shoot, the 
less apt they will be to draw a pistol unnecessarily ; 
317 



318 The Modern Pistol 

they are confident in their skill ; it is the man who 
is given a pistol for the first time who looses off and 
hits the wrong man. 

I think it is a mistake to arm police with a .38 
or .32 pistol instead of a full-size .44 or .45 military 
one. A policeman has often to face great odds 
and a mob will not, like enemy soldiers in battle, 
spare him when down. A mob will kick him to 
death. It is wrong therefore to give him a less 
powerful weapon than a soldier is given. 

I suppose he is given the smaller pistol, as in 
some countries the police do not carry a pistol 
openly as part of their equipment so when they 
do carry pistols they have them concealed. 

I think also this concealment is a mistake; if 
a pistol is carried openly and the carrier is known 
to be a good shot, he can keep order without 
shooting, whereas a man with no visible pistol may 
be ill-treated because he appears unarmed and 
therefore harmless ; and he has to draw in order to 
maintain his authority or in self-defence. 

In the case of my Challenge Trophies given in 
the United States, the competitions are changed 
from revolver into automatic pistol competitions 
as the revolver is obsolete. 

If a policeman is unarmed, he cannot be expected 
to keep as cool and have as good judgment in an 
emergency when his own life is in danger as he can 
be when armed with a good large calibre pistol 
that he knows how to shoot to such good effect 
that he is in no personal danger. 



Police Pistols 319 

If, when a riot starts, he can instantly drop a 
ring-leader each time the crowd attempts a rush, 
or break the arm of any man trying to throw a 
stone, he can get the mob under control with much 
less bloodshed than if they get out of hand with 
impunity and the military have finally to be 
called out. 

A cool deadly shot can keep a big mob at bay. 
It is when police shoot and miss that the crowd 
begin to jeer and lose all fear of the police. 

' It is a great mistake to fire over the head of a 
man to stop him, it only makes him think you are a 
bad shot. 

My servant got me out of a very nasty predica- 
ment when we were travelling one pitch dark night 
through a forest we had never been in before. We 
were being led by a guide who we felt sure was 
taking us in the wrong direction in order to lead 
us into an ambush and rob us. We had been walk- 
ing away from where the compass told us was our 
proper direction for hours. 

My servant without a word loaded my rifle and 
handed it to me. 

The guide immediately turned and in half an 
hour we were back at our lodgings. 

He had seen me kill a galloping bear in thick 
high cover a few hours before, and he did not like 
the look of my double-barrel rifle pointing at his 
back. 



CHAPTER LXII 



INVENTORS 



There are several types of inventors of firearms, 
including those who invent real improvements, and 
those who delay invention by making all sorts of 
things which are not only useless but are even 
dangerous. 

Inventors, to do any good work, must be con- 
versant with their subject, and, if possible, skilled 
mechanics as well. 

This is the difficulty when shooting experts, who 
are not gunmakers, try to invent anything. 

The shooter knows what is necessary, often 
far better than the gunmaker. 

The shooter has to use the firearm, and often 
finds details in them, which are very beautiful 
perhaps, from a mechanical point of view, but 
which are very awkward or even impossible from 
the practical shooting point of view. A noisy bolt 
action for example. 

The shooter knows what he wants but cannot 
put it into practical shape; the gunmaker, if he 
is not a shooting man as well, does not know of 
this want. 

320 



Inventors 321 

The best way out of the difficulty is for the 
shooter to collaborate with the skilled mechanic 
and then between them they can evolve something 
really useful. This is the way most improvements 
are evolved, the shooter constantly testing the 
invention and pointing out its faults to the gun- 
maker who alters till the thing works well. 

If an expert mechanic (even if he is a gun- 
maker), who is not a shooting man tries to invent 
a firearm improvement by himself, and he finds it 
works in the workshop, he thinks that is all that is 
necessary, and the invention is a failure as no 
shooting man will use it. 

The expert shot who is unmechanical, cannot 
put his ideas into practical shape, and if he does 
not go to a gunmaker and ask his help, the inven- 
tion never takes shape; in this way some invalu- 
able inventions never see the light, for want of a 
little mechanical knowledge. 

But there is a third type of inventor, who is 
absolutely hopeless and the despair of any shooting 
man he shows his invention to. 

This is the man who knows nothing about 
shooting but he has his own ideas as to how shoot- 
ing is done, and is too conceited ever to try to 
learn anything. 

He is the type of man who says "Oh, we will 
muddle through. ' ' 

Such a man has a vague idea that, as he him- 
self cannot shoot, therefore his own individual 
difficulties if he tried to handle a firearm are 



32? The Modern Pistol 

the difficulties which all shooting experts labour 
under. 

He does not know that an expert laughs at the 
difficulties of a beginner, which never trouble a 
man when he has become expert. 

As well might a man the first time he is put on a 
horse imagine that, because he has to fly up and 
down off the saddle at each movement of a can- 
tering horse, that the expert also has to take care 
not to fall off. 

The expert can sit on a cantering horse without 
the least lifting from the saddle, whereas the 
beginner flops up and down. 

In the same way the expert shot has passed the 
stage which the inexpert inventor tries to invent 
against. 

A horseman would not buy a saddle with straps 
to tie down the rider, invented by a man who did 
not ride. 

The non -rider thinks such things absolutely 
necessary to keep from falling off, the expert 
horseman not only knows such things are unneces- 
sary, but would be a danger in case the horse fell, 
as the rider could not fall clear. 

In the same way inventors of firearms, if they 
are not shooting men, invent dangerous things for 
overcoming dangers which do not exist except in 
their own imaginations. 

This would not matter so much if they would 
listen to experts but they refuse to learn, and 
actually try to instruct experts. 



Inventors 323 

I had a man come in recently to show me a 
terribly dangerous pistol he had invented. 

He was pointing it about in all sorts of dangerous 
directions and finally put the muzzle against his 
own body whilst he tried to cock it. 

I suggested to him he had better first see if it 
was loaded. 

He smiled at me in a pitying superior way, but 
opened the breech and took out a loaded cartridge. 

"Why it is loaded," he casually remarked, 
re-inserting the cartridge and beginning again to 
fumble with the lock, whilst he held the muzzle 
against his body. 

I said, "Don't you know you can kill yourself if 
it goes off," — "that is the great beauty of my 
invention," he informed me radiant with delight, 
"I have made this thing, " pushing the trigger with 
his left thumb, ' ' so that it only moves at a pressure 
of fourteen pounds so it is quite safe. " 

These know-alls work up through all the steps 
man has gone through in perfecting firearms, in- 
stead of taking up the work from the highest it has 
come to. 

Most likely the first inventor of firearms found 
he shot people accidentally when "pulling at this 
thing" (as my friend the inventor called the 
trigger), then discovered by experience that, 
however heavy the trigger-pull is made, it is sure 
to kill somebody accidentally if pulled hard 
enough, and finally came to the conclusion that it 
is safer to have a light trigger-pull if the muzzle 



324 



The Modern Pistol 



is not pointed in a dangerous direction, than to 
have a half -ton trigger-pull and keep the muzzle 
pointed against one's body. 

In the matter of sights an optician, even if ignor- 
ant of firearms, may be able to give a valuable hint 



FIG I 



't=-x 




e\ 



Fic.2 



Fjo.3 



8 6 



Fig4. 



Fic.S Fig.B. Fic.7 




FSC.4& 



PLATE 19. WINANS REVOLVER FRONT SIGHTS 



to an inventor, but this usually applies to sights 
for accurate aiming at distant stationary objects; 
for a pistol it is more often expert shooting know- 
ledge which is useful in designing sights. 

It was my combination of sculptor and shooter 
which gave me the idea of my front sight, any one 
not a sculptor would not be apt to stumble on the 
idea of undercutting the sight so as to give a deep 



Inventors 325 

shadow below and so make the top stand out light 
against a dark lower portion. (See Plate 19.) 

In the same way some entirely distinct branch 
of learning may be of use to the inventor of fire- 
arms; but in all cases, this must be subservient 
to practical shooting knowledge; the man who 
tries to force his ideas onto a shooter, against the 
shooter's expert knowledge, makes a mistake. 

The highest authority can always learn some- 
thing new from an expert ; but the man ignorant of 
a subject who tries to teach an expert merely 
exposes his ignorance, like a politician who tells 
a general how to conduct a campaign. 



CHAPTER LXIII 

SIMPLIFICATION 

It is human nature to keep on in the same old 
groove, to try to avoid change, even if that change 
is for the better. This habit is owing to it being so 
much easier not to have to think for oneself but 
merely to do as you see others do. 

But following convention is not progress. 

Convention is the deadly enemy of progress. 
Simplification is the twin sister of progress. All 
improvements are the result of simplification, not 
of elaboration. 

The public when they see some very elaborate 
invention say "how clever, " but the really clever 
inventor is the one who can make a simple appara- 
tus do the work that formerly could be done only 
by a much more complicated apparatus, or even 
took several apparatuses to accomplish. 

The Universe appears to consist of endless 
variety, but the more it is studied (whatever else 
remains a mystery) , this one fact becomes plainer 
and plainer. 

Everything acts in unison. 

The Universe is One Perfect Whole. 
326 



Simplification 327 

The Universe can, even with our limited know- 
ledge, be reduced to a few simple elements, gov- 
erned by a few simple "laws." 

It is, from a solar system, to a sub-micro- 
scopical organism, subject to the same "laws" and 
working as one whole. 

Probably, it will be ultimately discovered that 
there is only one ' ' Law ' ' and one Element in the 
Universe. 

All has to obey this ' ' Law, ' ' there is no such thing 
as "luck," "chance," or destruction. All has 
always existed through incessant permutation; 
and will exist, from all eternity, through all 
eternity. 

The ancients, and the modern Mahometans 
knew this. The ancients called it Fate, the Moslems 
call it Kismet. If a man tries to make an auto- 
matic pistol contrary to the Laws of Nature, it 
naturally will not operate properly, he loses his 
temper, says it is just his luck, but he reasons 
wrongly. 

If he studies the laws of mechanics, which are 
one form of the Law of Nature, and complies with 
them, his pistol will act properly; if not and he is 
ignorant of the laws of mechanics, his pistol will 
not act properly; it is not his "hard luck" but 
simply that he is trying vainly to work against 
Nature, and Fate holds him in a steel grip. 

If he obeys the Laws of Nature, which are another 
name for Fate, he can go on like a train following its 
rails, but he can no more make a pistol con- 



328 The Modern Pistol 

structed on wrong principle function properly 
than he can stop the sun in its course. 

Simplification is the goal to be striven for in 
pistol shooting as it is in sculpture. 

I saw two men, as I was writing the above, mow- 
ing a field. 

One, an elderly man, was working in the conven- 
tional manner, cutting short deep swaths with a 
half blunt scythe set at the wrong angle to the 
handle, working in a cramped position. 

The other, a young man, was examining his 
scythe. 

He altered the blade at an acuter angle to the 
handle and gave it a twist sideways so that the 
cutting edge should lie horizontal when in use. 

Then he sharpened the blade as carefully as he 
would strop a razor. 

Putting himself into a firm position so that he 
could swing from the hips as an athlete about to 
throw the discus would, he made long clean 
sweeps with his scythe, taking a short depth, but 
this with a clean cut, and the cut grass thrown 
clear to the side, his return being only just clear 
of the grass, like a good sculler feathering. 

At the least sign of bad cutting, he re-sharpened 
the scythe. 

Although I know nothing of mowing, I could see 
at once that this was an artist and a workman at 
his job, and one who used his brains and took a 
pride in doing good work. 

I asked if he was not the champion mower of the 



Simplification 329 

district. I was answered "not at all — he is only 
the carpenter. " 

This is the sort of man who invents. 

He diagnoses faults and thinks out how to cor- 
rect them. He did not, like the other man who 
had been mowing all his life, work as his father 
and grandfather had done, because it was the 
conventional manner. He thought out for himself 
and improved by simplification. 

It is evident that the cut should come on gradu- 
ally, not jump into a thick bunch of grass all at 
once, so he set the blade at an angle which made 
its entry into the grass deeper progressively, and 
so on with all the rest. 

The inventor who knows his business, when he 
has made something to accomplish its object, 
does not rest there. This is only the "blocking 
out" as we sculptors call it. 

Then he begins to simplify. 

Anything not absolutely necessary is elimi- 
nated; he sees if some member cannot be dispensed 
with by making another fulfil two or even more 
functions. 

This is how Nature works, many organs have 
several functions; the function of our tongues is 
not only speech but to help swallowing, to judge 
if what we put into our mouths is too hot or too 
cold to swallow, if it is fit for food, or corrosive, 
etc. 

The automatic pistol is still capable of great 
improvement. 



330 The Modern Pistol 

All the recoil is not made use of, some is 
wasted and diverts the aim by jumping the pis- 
tol about. 

The noise of the discharge is an evil, it ought to 
be made to do work, not deafen. 

To invent a sound-deadener to put on the pistol 
is working ort wrong lines; it is not simplification 
but it is complication. 

Instead of first making a noise and then invent- 
ing something to destroy that noise, why not avoid 
making that noise? 

The idea that ugliness does not matter is also a 
fallac}^. 

I was objecting to a pistol a man was shooting 
(and of which he asked my opinion), on the 
ground that it was so ugly. "What has ugliness 
to do with a pistol?" he said. "In my opinion, 
everything," I answered. 

Nothing correct mechanically is ugly, that is the 
Law of Nature. 

The early, impractical, automatic pistols were ex- 
tremely ugly; the best at present, the U. S. Army 
Colt, has graceful lines, and the perfect one will be 
beautiful. 

The essence of architecture is beauty in utility. 

Look at a first class hand made gun built by an 
Artist; it has the graceful lines of a classical piece 
of sculpture. 

An automatic pistol should be as simple as 
possible, the simpler the less likely to go wrong. 

The supposed antagonism between Art and 



Simplification 331 

Mechanics, between Science and Religion are 
imaginary. 

If we simplify Art to its essential essence and 
perfection as the Ancient Greeks did — what do we 
find? 

Sculpture is proportion and the essential planes. 

What else is mechanics? 

Science reduces all to the ONE UNIVERSAL 
FIRST CAUSE, and this is also the foundation 
of all religion. 

- In pistol shooting, all resolves itself into aligning 
the pistol and discharging the bullet. 

The shortest distance from one point to another 
is the straight line. 

Therefore do not "flourish" or "brandish" the 
pistol up and down before discharging it. 

Merely bring it to alignment and discharge it in 
so doing. 

Time is wasted if the trigger is pressed after 
alignment. Therefore begin pressing the trigger 
as the pistol is coming to the level. 

This is the whole art of pistol shooting. 

The way to advance any art, however humble, 
is for each to help the other with his experience. 

Nothing is so inimical to success as convention. 

All progress is made on the lines of pruning off 
all not absolutely essential, in other words by 
simplification. 



APPENDIX A 

I think it advisable to give the following World's 
Records made by myself with revolvers and black 
powder as they are now unbeatable, the weapons 
and cartridges being obsolete. 

They stand in the same category as the "high 
wheel" trotting records. 

If there were similar records, diagrams, and details 
of scores made with sling, long bow, crossbow, Per- 
sian bow, American Indian bow, blow pipe, javelin, 
matchlock, wheellock, etc., available, of what inestim- 
able value they would be to the historian and archeolo- 
gist. 

Instead, for want of such records, all knowledge of 
the capabilities of these weapons is vague and legend- 
ary. 

Under each diagram I give all details. Most of 
diagrams are the actual size and all have the position 
of each bullet-hole accurately shown. 



333 



334 The Modern Pistol 




DIAGRAM I. AUTHOR'S WORLD'S RECORD SCORE. 

Stationary, 20 yards, 10 shots, South London Rifle Club, 
May 21, 1889; .45 Colt Cavalry Revolver, Military sights, 
Eley ammunition. Black powder. (Full size.) 



Appendix A 



335 




DIAGRAM 2. AUTHOR'S WORLD S RECORD SCORE. 

Stationary, 20 yards, n shots, South London Rifle Club, 
August 21, 1888; .44 Smith & Wesson Revolver, U. M. C. 
gallery ammunition. Black powder. (Full size.) 



336 



The Modern Pistol 




DIAGRAM 3. AUTHOR'S WORLD'S RECORD SCORE. 

Nine shots at 20 yards, North London Rifle Club, May 5, 
1897. Black powder; .44 Smith & Wesson Revolver, gallery 
ammunition. 



Appendix A 



337 




DIAGRAM 4. AUTHOR S WORLD S RECORD SCORE. 

Twelve shots at 20 yards, at the North London Rifle Club, 
Sept. 4, 1895. Black powder; .44 Smith & Wesson Revolver, 
gallery ammunition. 



338 



The Modern Pistol 




DIAGRAM 5. AUTHOR'S WORLD'S RECORD SCORE. 

Nine shots at 20 yards, at South London Rifle Club, Sept. 22, 
1892. Colt .45 Target Revolver. English " Mark I " regulation 
ammunition. Black powder. 



Appendix A 



339 




DIAGRAM 6. AUTHOR'S WORLD'S RECORD SCORE. 

Ten shots at 20 yards, at South London Rifle Club, July 3, 
1888; Smith & Wesson .32 break-down mode 1 . Black powder. 



34Q 



The Modern Pistol 




DIAGRAM 7. AUTHOR'S WORLD'S RECORD SCORE. TWENTY YARDS 
DISAPPEARING TARGET. 

"Military" target, Wimbledon, 1888; .45 Smith & Wesson 
Revolver. Eley's ammunition. Black powder. (Full size.) 



Appendix A 



341 




DIAGRAM 8. AUTHOR'S WORLD'S RECORD SCORE. TWENTY YARDS 
DISAPPEARING TARGET. 

North London Rifle Club, May 29, 1895; .45 Smith & Wesson 
Revolver, U. M. C. ammunition. Black powder. (Full size.) 



342 The Modern Pistol 




DIAGRAM 9. AUTHOR S WORLDS RECORD SCORE. TWENTY YARDS 
DISAPPEARING TARGET. 

" Any " Revolver, Bisley, 1896; .45 Smith & Wesson Revolver, 
U. M. C. ammunition. Black powder. (Full size.) 



Appendix A 



343 




DIAGRAM 10. AUTHOR'S WORLD'S RECORD SCORE. SIX SHOTS IN 
12 SECONDS. 

" Any " Revolver, Bisley, 1895. Rapid firing; .44 Smith & 
Wesson Revolver, U. M. C. gallery ammunition. Black powder. 
(Full size.) 



344 The Modern Pistol 




DIAGRAM II. AUTHOR'S WORLD'S RECORD SCORE FOR MILITARY 
REVOLVER AND SIGHTS. 

Bisley, 1895. Six shots in 12 seconds at 20 yards; .45 
Smith & Wesson Revolver, U. M. C. ammunition. Black powder. 
(Pull size.) 



Appendix A 



345 




DIAGRAM 12. AUTHOR'S WORLD'S RECORD SCORE. TWENTY YARDS 
RAPID-FIRING TARGET. 

Bisley, 1895. .45 Smith & Wesson Military Revolver, Winans 
sights. U. M. C. smokeless ammunition. Black powder. (Full 
size.) 



346 The Modern Pistol 




DIAGRAM 13. AUTHOR'S WORLD S RECORD SCORE. FOR 3-INCH 
BULL'S-EYE TRAVERSING TARGET, 20 YARDS. 

Wimbledon, 1888; .45 Smith & Wesson Revolver, Eley 
ammunition. Black powder. (Full size.) 



Appendix A 



347 



6 







DIAGRAM 14. AUTHOR S WORLD'S RECORD SCORE. FOR 2-INCH 
BULL'S-EYE TRAVERSING TARGET, 20 YARDS. 

Bisley, 1896. .45 Smith & Wesson Revolver, U. M. C. am- 
munition. Black powder. (Full size.) 



34 8 The Modern Pistol 




DIAGRAM 15. AUTHORS WORLD'S RECORD SCORE ADVANCING 
TARGET. 

"Any" Revolver, Bisley, 1896; .44 Smith & Wesson Re- 
volver, U. M. C. gallery ammunition. Black powder. Target 
advanced from 50 yards to 20 yards. (Full size.) 



Appendix A 



349 




DIAGRAM 16. AUTHOR'S WORLD 's RECORD SCORE FIFTY YARDS 
TARGET. 

Bisley, 1894. Twelve consecutive shots: Six with .44 Smith 
& Wesson Revolver, six with .38 Smith & Wesson Revolver. 
Smith & Wesson self-lubricating bullet. Black powder. (Half 
size.) 



350 The Modern Pistol 



Full' Sized Diagrams of Twelvehighest possible Scores made by WALTER WlNANSinRevolverCompetirions 
at 20 yards in 1895. These are theTwelve bcsl Scores of those he won the following Competitions with. 

iji-iin Am- R'uiKi.T a^tirrqate lilsicv /Milii.in- RuuiKxr acjjreonk -i Bislev Revolver Grand awrepah? 
North Lojidon Rifle Club's Revolver Championship ■;■ South London Rifle Club's Revolver Championship.' 

Swallow. Streef Revolver Gallery Challenge Cup ■;• Also many First Prizesin Individual Competitions 



July 18 ft 



Jun.15 AorthLondonRifleClub. . ' ^T^^k. 

countim)83 outot.i rmssdjeift. , ^^^^V 

(VjSUS* H> ■ s c ^n.bor4« ^^^^ 

First Prize ^V.ondo„ « lf?f , - > , u , m lo„ R,„ TheTop Score 

^^■k ^^^ttk Best on' Record S<w 

September/,^ ^^ '^f*' October 2 5? rf 

AU"" 1 "" tt« ( ., v First Prize First Prize . v U>ndon '>'"7e fy 



: of 411 points mil of a pos.-iMc -K!(i uliitl. i- Ihe best on l!.,.,nJ 
hreeVears -:- The South London RiOe Club ScwMstlicbestouj; 
better than his previous best on rceord.and won the Championship 
in the Team Shoot of the North London Rifle Club's Revolve! Malrli 
nd nunieroiis"S|u,on'Conii> l -litK.ns dunn., tin- Year 



DIAGRAM 17. TWELVE HIGHEST POSSIBLE SCORES MADE BY THE 
AUTHOR IN REVOLVER COMPETITIONS AT 20 YARDS IN 1 895. 

English regulation mark ammunition. Black powder. The 
diameter of the original bull's-eye is 2 inches. 



APPENDIX B 

THE LAW RELATING TO REVOLVERS AND REVOLVER 
SHOOTING IN GREAT BRITAIN AND TRELAND 

It is perhaps advisable to explain something about 
the right of carrying revolvers in England, and the 
using them in cases of necessity, and first it should be 
explained that a revolver is a gun so far as the Gun 
License Act of 1870 (33 and 34 Vict. c. 57) is concerned, 
and that a license fee of 10/ per annum has to be paid 
for the privilege of carrying or using one, though a 
license to kill game includes the lesser gun license. 
In fact it has ever been held that a small toy pocket 
pistol is a firearm for the purpose of the Act. There 
are various exceptions to the necessity of taking out 
this license, and it may be as well to enumerate them, 
especially as many people keep revolvers in their 
houses and would be astonished if they thought that a 
gun license was necessary for the so doing — but it is 
not, so long as the revolver is kept or used in a dwelling 
house, or the curtilage of a dwelling house. This is 
one of the exceptions to the Act, and a very proper 
and necessary exception it is, for it would be most 
unreasonable to enact that the mere keeping a revolver 
for the purposes of protection should compel one to 
take out an annual license. Moreover the enforce- 
ment of such a restriction would be almost impossible 
without an inquisitorial search through every house. 
35i 



35 2 The Modern Pistol 

Probably because there is very little reason for carry- 
ing a revolver about with one in this country the ex- 
ception does not apply to the so doing, and the mere 
taking a revolver across the street would technically 
compel the taking out a license. The curtilage of a 
house is much the same as its courtyard, and would 
no doubt include a yard and garden adjoining the 
house, but not a field beyond. 

Further exceptions are that no penalty is to be 
incurred by any person in the naval, military, or 
volunteer service, or in the constabulary or other 
police force, but it should be noted that this exception 
applies only where the person claiming it is in the 
performance of a duty or in target practice, so that 
the policeman or volunteer off duty would still be sub- 
ject to the obligation of having a license. 

Another exception is that of any one carrying a 
firearm belonging to a person having a license or cer- 
tificate to kill game or having a gun license, if he is 
carrying it by order of, or for the use of, such licensed 
or certificated person, only he is bound to give his name 
and address and the name and address of his employer 
if called upon. 

The occupier of lands using or carrying a firearm for 
the purpose only of scaring birds or killing vermin on 
such lands is exempt too, as also any one using or 
carrying a firearm for the same purpose on any lands 
by order of the occupier, if the latter has a game license 
or certificate, or a gun license. Again, a gunsmith or 
his servant carrying a firearm in the ordinary course 
of trade, or testing it in a special place, need not have 
a license. 

Lastly, a common carrier carrying a revolver in the 
ordinary course of business is exempt. 



Appendix B 353 

To show how strict the law is, it may be added 
that the killing of vermin, which, as above men- 
tioned, is allowed without a license does not include 
rabbits. 

As the penalty is £10 for carrying firearms without 
a license, I have thought it advisable to enlarge some- 
what fully on the above topic. 

There are also various penalties and punishments 
which may be imposed upon persons misbehaving 
while in the possession of loaded firearms, or wantonly 
discharging them. Thus any one who is in possession 
-of a loaded firearm and is found to be drunk, may be 
apprehended, and is liable to a penalty not exceeding 
40/, or, in the discretion of the Court, to imprison- 
ment with or without hard labour for not more than 
one month. 

Then, any person who in the streets of a town wan- 
tonly discharges any firearm to the obstruction, annoy- 
ance, or danger of the residents or passengers, is 
liable to a penalty not exceeding 40/ for each of- 
fence, or, in the discretion of the justices, to impris- 
onment for not more than fourteen days (no hard 
labour) . 

It is hardly necessary to say that the wrongful use 
of a revolver as an offensive weapon is very heavily 
punished, it being provided that any one who shoots 
at a person or attempts, by drawing a trigger or in 
any other manner, to discharge any kind of loaded 
arms at a person with intent to commit murder, is 
guilty of felony and liable to penal servitude for life, 
or any less term, or to imprisonment for not more than 
two years with or without hard labour and solitary 
confinement. 

Again, any one who unlawfully and maliciously 



354 The Modern Pistol 

wounds, or causes any grievous bodily harm to any 
person, or who shoots at any person, or who by draw- 
ing a trigger or in any other manner attempts to dis- 
charge any kind of loaded arms at a person, with 
intent in any of these cases to maim, disfigure, or dis- 
able any person, or to do some other grievous bodily 
harm to any person, or with intent to resist or prevent 
the lawful apprehension or detainer of any person, is 
liable to penal servitude for life or for not less than 
three years or to imprisonment for not more than 
two years with or without hard labour and solitary 
confinement. "Loaded arms" are denned as "any 
gun, pistol, or other arms which shall be loaded in the 
barrel with gunpowder or any other explosive sub- 
stance, and ball, shot, slug, or other destructive ma- 
terial, although the attempt to discharge the same may 
fail for want of proper priming, or from any other 
cause." Finally, any one who unlawfully and mali- 
ciously wounds or inflicts any grievous bodily harm 
upon any person with or without any weapon or in- 
strument, is liable to penal servitude for three years, 
or to imprisonment for not more than two years with 
or without hard labour. The words "unlawfully and 
maliciously" are difficult to construe, and therefore it 
may be well to state that a man who fired in the direc- 
tion of a punt, in order to deter the occupant from 
fowling in a particular locality, and wounded him in 
so doing, was convicted of malicious wounding; and 
generally that if a wound were to be caused mischiev- 
ously and without excuse the person who inflicted it 
would probably be found guilty under this enactment. 
So much for the strict offences caused by the im- 
properly carrying or making use of revolvers. Before, 
however, leaving this subject it will be advisable to 



Appendix B 355 

enter at a little length into the rights which any one has 
of using a revolver in self-defence, or in some other 
analogous- manner. Supposing a man has passed 
through the ordeal of the Gun License Act and is 
properly and legally carrying a loaded revolver, in 
what cases of emergency would he be justified in using 
it? Well, this is a very difficult question to answer, 
and one which in each event would depend entirely 
on the circumstances of the particular case. It is 
therefore impossible for me to lay down any exact 
principles governing every event of the kind which 
might happen, and I will content myself with stating 
a few hypothetical instances and what course of con- 
duct might be adopted in each instance. 

There is no doubt on this point, anyhow, — that one 
is justified in using a loaded revolver in self-defence, 
where an attack of such a murderous character is made 
as to threaten one's own existence, or the infliction 
of serious bodily harm; and, if the assailant should be 
killed, yet the using of the revolver and so disposing 
of him would be deemed as having been justifiable. 
The same rule would apply to shooting an assassin 
who was attempting to kill someone else. For in- 
stance, if while standing on a railway platform I were 
to see a man shooting at someone in a railway carriage, 
and at such distance that I could not actively interfere 
except by shooting, I should be right in firing at the 
assailant, and though my shot should prove fatal, 
still no blame could be attached to me. 

How far one is justified in using a revolver in beat- 
ing off or capturing burglars in one's house is, as 
already mentioned, a matter which can only be decided 
by the facts of the particular case. Assuredly where 
a man is awakened in the night by the noise of burglars 



356 The Modern Pistol 

breaking into or already in his house, and seizes his 
revolver and confronts the robbers, he would be 
justified in firing if the robbers threatened to attack 
him, and it is assumed that he would also be right in 
firing at a robber making off with booty who refused 
to stop when challenged to do so, if there were no 
reasonable chance of arresting him in any other way; 
though in the latter event he should endeavour so to 
shoot as to cripple rather than kill. Indeed it may be 
said, extraordinary though the statement may seem, 
that even in the hurry and skurry of a conflict with 
burglars the mind should remain calm and collected, 
so as to judge whether a mortal shot is required, rather 
than one which will only "wing" the opponent. 

In connection with this branch of the subject, the 
justification of a fatal shot may to some extent de- 
pend upon whether the robber was himself armed. 
If he were, then the killing him would be more easily 
justifiable than if he were unarmed. This is somewhat 
instanced by the law regarding an assault and battery 
in self-defence, which is that where there is an assault 
the person resisting must show that his assault com- 
mitted in self-defence was not more violent than he in 
good faith believed to be necessary and committed on 
reasonable grounds, so that it would not be right to 
inflict a heavy beating on a person who had only 
committed a slight assault upon one. So when all 
danger is past and a man strikes a blow not necessary 
for his defence, he commits an unjustifiable assault 
and battery, — and this principle would apply to the 
preventing of crimes, so that though one might be 
acting correctly in firing at and killing a man who was 
murderously assaulting a third person, yet, after the 
assault had been committed, it might be wrong to 



Appendix B 357 

kill the murderer if he were only discovered when 
running away, unless that was the only means of 
arresting him. 

Another point which has sometimes exercised the 
minds of those in the habit of carrying revolvers is 
whether they are justified in using such a weapon to 
put an end to pain on the part of dumb animals where 
recovery is almost impossible. It may be said gen- 
erally that no one can with safety interfere in such 
cases, even with the most benevolent intentions, so 
that if a horse, dog, or other animal has been so in- 
jured as to be suffering extreme agony, yet it would not 
be legal to put the poor creature out of its misery, 
unless with the consent of the owner. 

The exception has been made by the Injured Ani- 
mals Act, 1894, but that only empowers a constable 
to kill a horse, mule, or ass which is so severely injured 
that it cannot be led away, when the owner is absent 
or refuses to consent to its destruction, after a certi- 
ficate has been obtained from a certified veterinary 
surgeon that the animal is mortally injured or so 
severely that it is cruel to keep it alive. 

The exception that has been introduced by the Act 
of Parliament passed in 1 894 and called ' ' The Injured 
Animals Act, 1894," provides for the slaughter, 
without the owner's consent, of horses, mules, or 
asses, in cases of injury so serious as to make it cruel 
to keep them alive. It does not apply to animals other 
than those enumerated above, and is hedged round 
with such restrictions as to render it of little avail. 
These in brief are as follows: A constable must find 
the animal so severely injured that it cannot without 
cruelty be led away, the owner must be absent or 
refuse to consent to the destruction of the animal, and 



358 The Modern Pistol 

the constable must obtain the certificate of a veterin- 
ary surgeon that the animal is mortally injured, or so 
severely that it is cruel to keep it alive. After doing 
all this the constable may kill the animal. 

The foregoing statements as to the law are not ex- 
haustive, but they are made with the intention of 
helping the revolver-carrying section of the public to 
know what they may be responsible for and on what 
occasions or emergency they may safely use their 
weapons. To make sure that no legal error has crept 
in, these statements have been submitted to Mr. C. 
Willoughby Williams, of No. I Brick Court, Temple, 
Barrister at Law, who is of opinion that the law as set 
out is correct. 

It will be seen, from what is said above, that if a 
gun or a game license is obtained, it is not illegal to 
carry a loaded revolver, so that if any one had to go 
along a lonely road, or had received a threatening 
letter which had alarmed him, he would be quite in 
his right in taking about with him a loaded revolver. 
It would even be quite right for any one to carry about 
a loaded revolver in his pocket merely as a protection 
in case he should be unexpectedly attacked, but 
any one carrying about with him such an article 
should be prepared to use it only in cases of great 
emergency, and should keep a clear head on his 
shoulders. 

Another example of the advantages of carrying a 
revolver would be if one were attacked by a mad dog. 
In such a case, if the dog attacked in a ferocious man- 
ner, it would be permissible to shoot the dog, but it 
would not be allowable to shoot a dog on the supposi- 
tion that he was mad, unless he was attacking one; 
though, of course, if there were no doubt about the 



Appendix B 359 

dog's being mad, then, for the sake of others, it would 
be wise to shoot him. 

Again, if while carrying a revolver any one were 
passed by a runaway horse, and such horse were 
about to run over a child, it might be permissible to 
shoot the horse in order to save the child, if one were 
too far off to catch hold of the animal. These, how- 
ever, are all matters of degree, and what would be 
right and proper to do in one case might in a case 
almost similar be quite wrong. 

Note. — Since the first edition of this book was 
issued, the Pistols Act of 1903 has come into force. 
This Act stops the sale, by retail or by auction, or 
the letting on hire, of any pistol (which would include 
a revolver), unless the purchaser has a gun or game 
license, or is entitled to use or carry a gun without. 
such license, or unless the purchaser shows that he 
purposes to use the pistol only in his own house or the 
curtilage thereof, or that he is about to proceed abroad 
for a period of not less than six months. The Act also 
prevents the sale or hiring out of a pistol to a person 
under the age of 18 years, and places a very heavy 
penalty on any one knowingly selling a pistol to a 
person who is intoxicated or not of sound mind. 



APPENDIX C 

THE LAW OF CARRYING WEAPONS IN THE UNITED STATES 

The statutes of the various States upon the sub- 
ject of carrying weapons are substantially similar, the 
main differences relating to the persons exempted 
from their operation, and to the manner of carrying 
the weapon, some making it an offence to carry the 
weapon at all, whether concealed or not; others pro- 
hibiting the carrying of concealed weapons only. 

These statutes have been held to be police regula- 
tions, and not to conflict with the constitutional right 
of the people to keep and bear arms. 

Weapons are considered to be concealed, within the 
intent of the statutes, when they cannot be readily 
seen by ordinary observation. 

In some of the States, as in Kentucky, Louisiana, 
and Missouri, the carrying of "deadly" or "danger- 
ous" weapons is prohibited. Most of the States, 
however, specify the weapons prohibited. Such 
weapons as pistols, dirks, butchers', or bowie knives, 
stilettos, daggers, swords, brass knuckles, razors, 
slugs, etc., are usually specified in nearly all of the 
statutes. 

Officers of the law are usually exempted from the 
operation of the statutes. The officers must, how- 
ever, be duly appointed, and in the discharge of their 
duties at the time of carrying the weapons. 
360 



Appendix C 361 

Persons who are threatened with bodily harm or 
who have reasonable grounds to apprehend danger 
or attack, are usually justified in carrying concealed 
weapons. It is not every idle threat, however, which 
would justify one in carrying concealed weapons. 
The threat must be such as to cause a reasonable 
apprehension of danger. Examples of this exemption 
are found in the statutes of Alabama, Kentucky, 
Mississippi, Texas, Maryland, and West Virginia. 

Persons on their own premises are frequently ex- 
empted from the operation of the statutes. This is 
so in Arkansas, North Carolina, and Texas. 

Some of the statutes exempt persons who are travel- 
ling. This is so in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Texas. 

The burden of proving exemption rests usually 
upon the accused. This has been expressly decided 
in Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, 
Montana, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. 
In Michigan, however, it has been held that the pro- 
secution must prove that the defendant does not fall 
within one of the exemptions. 



INDEX 



i 



Accidents, 10; from loaded 
weapons, 21, 160; how to 
prevent, 26, 33, 58; on the 
stage, 282, 291 

Africa, shooting in, 261 

Alcohol, danger from use of, 4, 
95, 140, 145 

Allowance, 93, 243 

Ammunition, 44, 251, 262; 
blank, 282; Eley, 334, 340, 
346; U. M. C, 335, 341, 
342, 343, 344, 345, 347 

Animals, killing wounded, 305 

Art of Revolver Shooting, The, 
quoted, iii., 17,81, 135, 191, 
297 ; changes made in, 25 

"Au Commandemant, " shoot- 
ing, 227 

Author, duelling champion- 
ship of, 61; running deer 
championship of, 87; snap 
shooting score of, 106; mem- 
ber of London Royal Aca- 
demy, 159; author's trotting 
horses, 210; Sika deer shot 
by the, 271; gold medals 
won by, 275; trophies mod- 
elled by the, 317; sights de- 
signed by the, 324; world's 
record scores by the, 333- 
350 

Automatic pistol, accuracy of 
the, 1 ; the Colt regulation, 2, 
45, 80, 84, 133, 200, 212, 231, 
233; dangerous to handle, 
3, 46, 129; sole weapon in 
the U. S., 17; how to hold 
the, 21, 286; inventors of 



the, 22; danger from re- 
coil, 59; the civilian, 84; 
the police, 84; the Savage, 
84; the Smith & Wesson, 84; 
the German military, 84; 
recoil of the, 59, 84, 96, 97 ; 
shooting with the, 97, 113; 
the safety bolt of the, 99; 
powerful cartridge of the, 
109, 251; the U. S. army, 
109; description of the, 113, 
118; faults of the, 125; the 
Colt new safety, 128; clean- 
ing and care of the, 152; 
military automatics, 231, 
248 ; proper ammunition for, 
251; the Mauser, 252; use 
on horseback, 258 
Automatic gallery pistols, 260; 
the Winans model, 263 ; .22 
long barrel Colt, 265; .22 
target Colt, 296 ; capable of 
improvement, 329; graceful 
lines of the Colt, 330 



B 



Balance, 50, 80 

Balderston, John Lloyd, 

quoted, vi. 
Barrel, length of, 48 
Bavaria, alcohol tests in, 147 
Bear, shooting, 261 
Bell, Dr. Louis, 317 
Big game shooting, 23, 213, 

250; in England, 154 
Bisley, shooting at, 16, 94, 

156, 209, 342, 343- 344, 345, 

347, 348, 349 



363 



364 



Index 



Boar, shooting wild, 228, 250, 
261 

Brains, shooting requires, 163 

"Brandishing and Flourish- 
ing, "3, 29, 59, 282, 330 

Breech, the, 118 

Bridge, playing at, 55, 140 

Brookhart, Major S. W., 
quoted, 148 

Bulleted caps, 50, 51, 52, 56 

Bullets, soft lead, 72; drop of, 
247; Devilliers, 300, 315 

Burglars, frightening, 28; 
shooting at, 214 

Butt, the, 55 

Byron, Lord, quoted, 34, 188 



Carpentier, 188 

Cartridges, obsolete types of, 

45; the proper, 97; ejection 

of, 130; cordite used in, 262; 

duelling pistol, 264 

Chantry Bequest, the, 159 

Clay pigeons, shooting at, 73, 

90 
Cleaning, 27, 127, 152 
Clip, cartridges in a, 120 
Clubs, shooting, 75 
Cocking, trials at, 42, 241 
Colds, danger from, 218, 228 
Colt, the regulation .45, 80, 
84, 133. 200, 212, 231, 233; 
the civilian, 84; the police, 
84; new safety, 128; the 
Derringer, 203 ; .25 cal. auto- 
matic, 205 ; .22 long-barrelled 
automatic, 265; .22 target 
automatic, 296; graceful 
lines of the, 330 
Competitions, the way they 
are conducted, 9, 78, 266, 
313; entering for, 43; Gas- 
tinne-Renette, 73, 313; 
mounted pistol, 256; duell- 
ing, 303; police, 317 
Condy's fluid for colouring, 278 
Cordite, cartridges of, 262 
Crane, R. Newton, quoted, 192 
Cuirass, a bullet-proof, 2 



Daily Mail, letter to the, 151 
Daily Mirror, the, quoted, 191 
Deer-stalking, 71, 157, 260 
Derringer, the Colt, 203, 252 
Devilliers bullet, the, 300, 

3 X 5 
Devonshire, red deer in, 154 
Disconnector, the, 128, 238 
Distance, judging, 243 
Don Juan quoted, 34, 188 
Dress, 207 
Drinking, harm done by, 4, 

95, HO, 145 

Duelling, practised on the 
Continent, 16; position to 
stand in, 78; distance in, 
108, 182, 274; question of, 
171; remarks on, 176, 180, 
185, 189; swords used in, 
177; penalties for, 184; laws 
on, 192; preparations for, 
194; competitions in, 313 

Duelling pistols, 16, 47; the 
Flobert, 49; the Gastinne- 
Renette, 50, 123, 263, 274; 
the regulation French, 52, 
62, 182; author's cham- 
pionship with, 61; balance 
of, 80; sights on, 234, 264; 
recoil of, 239; .44 used for 
rabbit stalking, 249; car- 
tridges for the, 264; Sika 
stag shot with a, 271; use 
of Devilliers bullet in the, 
300 



Ears, guarding the, 5, 215; 
Elliott's Protector for the, 
217, 219 

Ejection of cartridges, 130 

Elliott, J. A. R., Ear Protect- 
or, 217, 219 

England, revolver in use in, 
17, 231; shooting in, 154; 
duelling in, 191 ; open air 
ranges in, 227, 266; law 
regarding firearms in, 360 



Index 



365 



English National Rifle Assn., 

16, 156 
Euclid quoted, 3 
Exhibition shooting, 135, 291, 

297 
Eyes, protecting the, 215 
Eyesight, 222 



Falling bullets, danger from, 

10 
Faults, correcting, 165 
Fencing, 59 
Field, the, quoted, vi. 
Flanneled Fools, 6 
Flobert pistol, the, 36, 49 
Francis, W., chauffeur, 234 
Furlong, Dr. W. V., letter 

from, 151 



Game shooting, 249 ; rifle used 

in, 260, 287 
Games, pistol shooting and, 

13 

Gastinne-Renette, duelling pis- 
tols by, 50, 123, 182, 263; 
gallery of, 54, 267, 270; 
competitions, 37, 313 ; prizes, 
73, 137, 170, 271, 273; Ira 
Paine at gallery of, 137; 
targets used by, 167 

Gieve, Mathews & Seagrove, 
217 

Goggles, use of, 302 

Golf, compared with shooting, 
5, 55, 266; time wasted at, 
6; temper shown at, 140 

Grande Medaille d'Or, 73, 137, 
170, 271' 

Greener Killer, the, 310 

Grip, how to, 80, 84, 285 



H 



Hammer head attachment, 84 
Hammer, positions of the, 33 
Hammerless pistols, 43 



High School of Riding, 254 
Horse pistols, balance of the, 

80 
Horseback, shooting from, 253 
Horsemanship, 254, 258 
Horses, docking, 24; runaway, 

288 
Horsley, Sir Victor, quoted, 

147 
How to hold the automatic, 

21 
Humane Killer, the, 311 



Inventors of firearms, 123, 

320 
Irving, Sir Henry, 144 



Jambing, 69, 84, 127, 153, 

232 
Jellicoe, Admiral, quoted, 146 



Killers, the Greener, 310; the 

Humane, 311 
Kipling, R., quoted, 6 
Kraeplin, report of Prof., 147 



Landseer, Sir Edwin, 158 
Languages, learning, 18 
Law, relating to revolver shoot- 
ing in Great Britain and 
Ireland, 35 1 ; relating to 
carrying weapons in the 
United States, 360 
Le Pistolet Club, 70 
Lee-Metford, the, 24 
Learning to shoot, 53 
Literature, shooting in, 280 
Lodge, Sir Oliver, quoted, 150 
London Royal Academy, the, 

159 
Long-range shooting, 108 
Long-sighted shooters, 20 



3 66 



Index 



M 

Magazine, the, 97 

Maryland, trophy given by 

the author to the State of, 

317 
Matador, 255 

Mauser automatic pistol, 252 
Metronome, the, 103, 272 
Military rifles, trigger-pull of, 

41; pistol sights, 63; sights 

of, 156 
Moufflon shooting, 252 
Muzzle-heavy weapons, 50, 69 



N 

National Rifle Association, 95 
Near-sighted shooters, 20, 85, 

222 
North London Rifle Club, 336, 

337, 34i 



Ogilvy, Captain, quoted, 136 
Olympic Games, the, 72, 77, 

87, 148, 255 
Outdoor Life, the, 244 



Paine, Chevalier Ira, 70, 136, 

188, 275 
Paris, shooting galleries in, 

54 

Pennell, Cholmondely, 208 

Petty, roundsman, 317 

Pigeon shooting, 40 

Pistol shooting, unpopularity 
of, 13 ; the way to learn, 25 

Pistols, duelling, 16, 17, 49, 50, 
52,62, 80, 123, 182, 239, 249, 
263, 264; single-shot, 20, 31, 
41; American, 51 ; the .22, 
77; shot used in, 73; how 
to hold, 80, 286; the Colt 
regulation .45, 80, 84, 133, 
200, 212, 231, 233; the civil- 
ian, 84; the police, 84; the 



Savage, 84; the Smith & 
Wesson, 84; the German 
military, 84; rifle stocks for, 
85; the U. S. Army, 109; 
description of, 113; vest 
pocket models, 203 ; military 
automatic, 231, 248 
Police pistols, 49, 317 
Position, the correct, 58, 92 
Powder, use of black, 1 7 
Practice, value of, 60, 61 
Prizes, the Grande M6daille 
d'Or, 73, 137, 170, 271; 
given for shooting roebuck, 
157; the King's Prize, 209, 
at Gastinne-Renette's, 271, 

„ 2 73, 3H 

Purchasing an automatic, ad- 
vice on, 125, 127 



Rabbit stalking, 249 
Rain, shooting in the, 226 
Range, choice of a, 55, 266; 
the indoor, 268; the open- 
air, 276 
Rapid firing, 100 
Recoil, 51; of automatic, 59, 
84, 96, 120, 126, 239, 330; 
of rifle, 261 
Referee, the, quoted, 190 
Revolver, the, 1; no longer 
used, 56, 242, 318, 333; the 
.32 pocket, 239; world's re- 
cords with the, 333 ; .45 Colt 
cavalry, 334; .44 Smith & 
Wesson, 335, 343, 348, 349; 
.45 Smith & Wesson, 340, 
341, 342, 344, 345, 346, 
347; the .38 Smith & 
Wesson, 349 
Ricochets, danger of, 279, 

304 

Riding, benefit from, 7 ; expert, 
322 

Rifle, right kind of, 23; pistol 
compared with, m; the 
military automatic, 1 19, 
125; shooting clubs, 158; 
in game shooting, 260; mod- 



Index 



367 



Rifle — Continued 

era improved, 261 ; the .44 

Winchester, 262; the .22 

automatic Winchester, 265; 

author's record at shooting 

the, 275 
Roebuck, shooting the, 157, 

246 
Royal Society for Prevention 

of Cruelty to Animals, 311 
Running deer, the, 93, 95, 

125, 156 
Running shots, 86, 92 



Safety bolt, the, 98, 133, 238 
Savage, the, 84 
Savory & Moore, 217 
Scotland, shooting in, 154, 198 
Seer, damage to the, 42 
Self-defence, shooting for, 132, 

212; pistols for, 200, 206 
Shooting galleries, 9; the 

unpopular, 14, 53, 64, 225, 

267; the Gastinne-Renette, 

54, 267, 270; pistols for, 

263 ; the ideal, 268 
Shooting, the instinct of, 8; 

unpopularity of pistol, 15; 

big game, 23; exhibition, 

135; brains required in, 163; 

dress, 207 ; use of spectacles, 

215; near-sighted, 20, 85, 

222; from horseback, 253; 

trick, 135, 291 
Shot, the No. 7, 74, 305; the 

No. 8, 201; the No. 10, 294; 

the No. 5, 305 
Shot gun, trigger-pull of the, 

40; shooting with the, 90; 

as sporting firearm, 155 
Sights, hind, 20, 21; the U 

back, 56; the black front, 

56, 155, 232; the white bead, 

57, 232; learning about, 62; 
French duelling, 63 ; the tele- 
scope, 250; Winan's front, 

.324. 
Simplification, 326 



Single-shot pistols, bad shots 
from, 20; how to handle the, 
31, 41; American, 51; shot 
from, 73; description of 
the, 113; cleaning the, 152; 
.22 used in United States, 
249 

Smith & Wesson, the, 84; 
hammerless safety, 98; Ira 
Paine's, 188; Russian model, 
202, 285; the .44, 335, 343, 
348; the .45, 340, 341, 342, 
344, 345. 346, 347; the .38, 
349. 

Smoking, harm done by, 4, 
95, HO, 142, 145 

Snap-shooting, 104, 197, 236, 
258 

Somersetshire, red deer in, 

154 

South London Rifle Club, 334, 

335, 338, 339 
Sport, meaning of, 7 
Spoons given as prizes, 13 
"Sports," worship of, 7 
Squeeze, the, 99 
St. Francis of Assisi, 172 
St. George, cross of, 234 
St. George Pistol Club, 270 
Stock, shape of, 285 
Stockholm, games at, 72, 77 
Swing shooting, 88, 258 



Targets, moving, 16; rapid 
firing, 16, 345; disappearing 
16, 340, 341, 342; station- 
ary, 17, 86, 276, 334, 335 
shooting at, 29 ; the man, 48 
7i, 75,77,93, 132; construe 
tion of, 56; instruction re 
garding, 71, 268; animal, 73 
mechanical stag, 75; French 
duelling, 77 ;the running deer, 
93, 95, I2 5, 156; painters of 
157; the perfect, 166; the 
Gastinne-Renette, 167, 274 
military, 340; traversing 
346, 347; advancing, 348 



368 



Index 



Temper, control of, 139 
Tennis, shooting compared 

with, 5 
Timing, 19, 88, 316; apparatus 

for, 102 
Tobacco, danger from use of, 

4, 95, 140, 142, 145 
Trajectory, flat, 23 
Trick shooting, 291 
Trigger-pull, 38; for pistol, 

48, 65, 188, 241, 314 
Trophies, challenge, 17 
Trotting, records, "high wheel," 

17.333; horses, 210 



U 



Union Society of London, 189 
United States, automatic pis- 
tol in the, 17; revolver and 
rifle teams in the, 148 ; laws 
on duelling, 192; .22 single- 
shot pistol used in, 249; 
law regarding firearms in 
the, 360 
Unload, how to, 129 



"Vanoc" quoted, 190 
Vise, shooting from a, 57 

W 

Waistcoat, leather, 208, 229 
Walking, steps taken in, 245 
Weight, pistol, 46, 49, 116, 

240 
Williams, Lord Justice 

Vaughan, quoted, 189 
Wimbledon, shooting at, 156, 

158, 340. 346 
Winans, model automatic, 263 ; 

front sights, 324, 345 
Winans, Ross, 120 
Winchester, the .44 rifle, 262, 

294; the .22 automatic rifle, 

265, 298 
Wind, shooting in the, 226 
World's record scores, 333 



Zeiss glasses, 223 



Jk Selection from the 
Catalogue of 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

Complete Catalogues sent 
on application 



By Walter Winans 



Hints on Revolver Shooting 

With 20 Illustrations specially prepared for the book- 
12°. Cloth. $1.00 net. By mail, $1.15 

" A thoroughly practical and helpful book, apparently 
written with the idea of imparting to those who aspire to 
excel with the revolver the knowledge that the author has 
gained with long experience. A perusal of its pages con- 
vinces one that he has succeeded in his endeavors and has 
produced a book of standard value." — Shooting and 
Fishing. 

Practical Rifle Shooting 

With Frontispiece. 12°. Cloth. 50 cents net. 
By mail, 60 cents 

" Mr. Winans is one of the world's most expert marks- 
men, and he tells in the most concise and lucid way how 
the veriest tyro may make himself proficient as a rifle 
shot." — Lloyd's Weekly News. 

" It k short and well to the point ; for the soundness 
of the advice offered the author's name is ample warrant." 
- — Oxford Magazine. 

Shooting for Ladies 

With 15 Illustrations. 12°. Cloth. 50 cents. 
By mail, 60 cents 

Mr. Winans, who is the world's champion double- 
rifle shot, believes that with light modern rifles and re- 
volvers ladies can make excellent scores in target shooting 
without fatigue or danger of injury. This volume is 
addressed to beginners as well as to expert shots. 

New York G. P. PtltnamS SonS London 



By Walter Winans 



The Art of Revolver Shooting 

Together with all Information Concerning the Automatic and 

the Single-Shot Pistol and How to Handle them 

to the Best Advantage 

New Edition Revised and Enlarged 

Very fully Illustrated from Original Photographs 
by Rouch, Fry, Purdey, Penfold and Others, 
and Head- and Tail-pieces from Drawings by 
the author. 

Royal 8°, handsomely printed, and bound in 
cloth extra, gilt top, uncut edges. $5.00 net. 
Carriage 40 cents. 

" It is impossible to speak too highly of this admirably written and 
beautifully illustrated work. The author explains everything that there 
is to tell about revolvers and revolver shooting, and the artistic as well 
as the instructional merits of the full-page and other illustrations are 

r"te exceptional. The volume has only to beseen in order to be de- 
d by all who are interested in the subject with which it deals." 

United Service Magazine. 

The Sporting Rifle 

The Shooting of Big and Little Game 

Together with a Description of the Principal Classes of 
Sporting Weapons 

With about 125 Illustrations from Original 
Drawings by the Author, and from Photo- 
graphs specially taken for the book. 

Royal 8°, handsomely printed, and bound in 
cloth extra, gilt top, uncut edges. $5.00 net. 
Carriage, 40 cents. 

Mr. Winans has earned for himself an international reputation on the 
art of rifle- and revolver-shooting, and his earlier works on the subject 
have been accepted as standards.^ The present work is profusely illus- 
trated, both by the author, T. Blinks, and other well-known artists, and 
gives the fullest details with diagrams as to how to handle the rifle for all 
sorts of game shooting, and also for winning prizes in shooting competi- 
tions at moving targets. Besides illustrating the various makes of rifles, 
there is a unique set of working drawings showing in minute lietail how 
to construct "Running Deer '' and disappearing targets. Maps and 
plans giving directions how to post the guns for Deer Driving, and how 
to manoeuvre the beaters is also featured in this important work. The 
natural history is illustrated by a series of photographs taken from life 
by H. Penfold. ^^^^^^ 

New York G. P. Putnam's SonS London 

hk. U w 



